Italian parliamentarian to lead OSCE election observers in Bosnia and Herzegovina

SARAJEVO, 11 September 1998 - Italian Senator Tana de Zulueta, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, has arrived in Sarajevo to take charge of the OSCE's election monitoring activities in Bosnia-Herzegovina this week. She will lead some 250 international observers deployed by OSCE throughout the country to observe the parliamentary and presidential elections on 12-13 September and will deliver a preliminary assessment on behalf of the international community on Monday 14 September. She will issue the statement in conjunction with Mrs. Hanne Severinsen, Member of the Danish Parliament and Head of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Delegation, with Mrs. Doris Pack, member of the European Parliament and also Mr. Mark Power-Stevens, the on-site coordinator of the OSCE/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The OSCE observer team includes thirty members from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly from eleven OSCE countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Turkey and USA. The team also includes delegations from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament and the North Atlantic Assembly.

For further information contact Pentti Vaananen, Deputy Secretary General (Tel: + 387 71 66 77 34) or Jan Jooren, Press Counsellor of the OSCE PA (Tel: + 45 33 32 94 00).Radhusstraede 1, 1466 Copenhagen K, Denmark Phone: +4533329400 Fax: +4533325505 E-mail: [email protected]