ARMENIA WISHES WELFARE FOR THE OSCE

Lragir.am
05-11-2007 15:27:18

The foreign minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan commented on the
notorious document signed by some pro-Russian CIS governments,
including Armenia, on an initiative of Russia, and presented to the
OSCE. The document was a proposal on sending fewer OSCE election
observers to the CIS countries.

During a news conference on November 5 the Armenian reporters
asked the CoE Secretary General Terry Davis to comment on this
initiative. However, the Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan
also wanted to answer this question. He said the document had been
perceived wrongly. According to the Armenian foreign minister, the
proposal refers to the OSCE long-term missions which are financed from
the OSCE budget. To relieve the financial burden of the budget, as
Vardan Oskanyan says, a proposal was made to cut long-term observation
missions to 50 observers.

According to Vardan Oskanyan, it will not affect Armenia in any
way because so far not more than 30 observers have been included
in the OSCE long-term observation mission for observing different
elections. Vardan Oskanyan also said Armenia has joined this proposal
only to increase the effectiveness of the OSCE observation missions.

As to Terry Davis, he said he hopes this initiative will not affect
observation of elections in Armenia but he also said it might be better
if the OSCE answers this question, while he preferred to speak about
the CoE observation mission. He said before the presidential election
the CoE is going to implement a ten-point program which will focus
on the freedom of the media. According to the CoE Secretary General,
it is not important what the media report two or three weeks before
the election. It is important what they report three or four months
before the election because it affects the decision of voters. Davis
also said this program is implemented together with the Armenian
government because they do not imposing but they help if they are
expected to help. The CoE Secretary General also said the election
is not only the voting day but also the period preceding it.