Press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

VIENNA, 1 June 2011 - The following is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on 1 June. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States:

COPENHAGEN, 1 June 2011—Roberto Battelli (Slovenia) will lead the international election observation mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where parliamentary elections are being held on 5 June.

This will be Mr. Battelli’s fifth time since the early 1990’s observing elections in the country.

“I look forward to observing the rest of the campaign period and would be happy if, on the day after the vote, I would be able to report about a peaceful and clean election,” said Mr. Battelli, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative for South East Europe.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is deploying 47 observers to the country. They will be joined by approximately 200 short-term observers from OSCE participating States to form the short-term OSCE election observer mission and will be supported by long-term observers of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) already on the ground. The mission also intends to cooperate closely with the observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Appointed by OSCE Chair-in-Office Audronius Azubalis to serve as Special Co-ordinator for this mission, Mr. Battelli will deliver the post-election statement on behalf of the observers at a news conference on 6 June in Skopje.

The election observation mission will assess the elections for their conformity with the OSCE commitments as stated in the 1990 Copenhagen Document.