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Belgrade refuses to grant entry visa to OSCE election experts
WARSAW 22 August 2000
WARSAW, 21 August 2000 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia refuses to grant entry visas to experts of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) intending to assess in-country conditions prior to the 24 September federal and municipal elections. "We strongly deplore the Yugoslav authorities' failure to grant visas to our experts", said Ambassador Gérard Stoudmann, Director of the OSCE/ODIHR.
On 7 August, the OSCE/ODIHR requested from the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia entry visas for a team of experts to travel to Belgrade for an assessment of pre-election conditions. Without such an assessment, the OSCE/ODIHR cannot consider the deployment of an observation mission for any election.
To date, the Belgrade authorities have failed even to respond officially to the OSCE/ODIHR visa request. However, various Yugoslav officials have stated orally that the OSCE is not welcome to observe the forthcoming elections, but other "selected institutions and parliaments of certain States" may be invited to do so.
The Belgrade authorities' announced intention to issue selective invitations to observe the 24 September elections while excluding the OSCE, combined with evidence of a flawed legal and human rights framework for the elections, gives the ODIHR cause for serious concern about the intentions of the ruling coalition in these elections.
This lack of co-operation is all the more regrettable as the OSCE/ODIHR was invited to observe the 1997 elections in the Republic of Serbia and deployed a full observation mission there. The OSCE/ODIHR was also invited to observe the 1996 elections, but declined at that time to deploy a mission because of the extremely short notice (two weeks before election day).
With less than five weeks remaining until 24 September, time is running out very rapidly for the international community to recruit and deploy the number of observers required for a credible monitoring. Where minimum conditions exist, a standard OSCE/ODIHR observation mission is deployed 6-8 weeks before election day.
For further information, please contact Mr. Hrair Balian, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Section, at +48.22.520.0600 in Warsaw.
On 7 August, the OSCE/ODIHR requested from the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia entry visas for a team of experts to travel to Belgrade for an assessment of pre-election conditions. Without such an assessment, the OSCE/ODIHR cannot consider the deployment of an observation mission for any election.
To date, the Belgrade authorities have failed even to respond officially to the OSCE/ODIHR visa request. However, various Yugoslav officials have stated orally that the OSCE is not welcome to observe the forthcoming elections, but other "selected institutions and parliaments of certain States" may be invited to do so.
The Belgrade authorities' announced intention to issue selective invitations to observe the 24 September elections while excluding the OSCE, combined with evidence of a flawed legal and human rights framework for the elections, gives the ODIHR cause for serious concern about the intentions of the ruling coalition in these elections.
This lack of co-operation is all the more regrettable as the OSCE/ODIHR was invited to observe the 1997 elections in the Republic of Serbia and deployed a full observation mission there. The OSCE/ODIHR was also invited to observe the 1996 elections, but declined at that time to deploy a mission because of the extremely short notice (two weeks before election day).
With less than five weeks remaining until 24 September, time is running out very rapidly for the international community to recruit and deploy the number of observers required for a credible monitoring. Where minimum conditions exist, a standard OSCE/ODIHR observation mission is deployed 6-8 weeks before election day.
For further information, please contact Mr. Hrair Balian, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Section, at +48.22.520.0600 in Warsaw.