OSCE/ODIHR long-term observers to arrive in Belarus on 17 November

Nov. 15, 2010 - PRLog -- MINSK, 15 November (BelTA) – Long-term observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) will arrive in Belarus on 17 November, head of the mission Ambassador Gert Arens told reporters on 15 November, BelTA has learnt.

“OSCE/ODIHR long-term observers will come to Belarus as early as on Wednesday. On Friday they will be deployed at their posts across the country,” Gert Arens said.

According to him, the core team members of the observation mission will be based in Minsk. They are representatives of Ukraine, Hungary, Georgia, Greece, Germany, Bulgaria and other countries. “We will meet with the candidates, government officials, reporters and civil society representatives,” he emphasized.

Talking about the work of the OSCE/ODIHR observers during this presidential campaign in Belarus, Ambassador Gert Arens emphasized that the mission will pay much attention to the practical implementation of the changes in the electoral laws of Belarus. Each election is unique in each country and within one country, Ambassador Gert Arens said. “Following the 2008 elections in Belarus we recommended introducing some changes to the electoral law of Belarus. The major goal of this mission is to observer the practical implementation of these changes,” he said.

Ambassador Gert Arens informed that two interim reports will be published, one of them will deal with the formation of election commissions. He did not specify the date when these reports will be released.

The Ambassador said that some OSCE/ODIHR observers will stay in Belarus a week after the elections are held, some will stay even longer.

He said that there is nothing complicated about the fact that ten people might become presidential candidates this year. “I worked in a country where over 20 candidates were registered. Therefore we have to stay in touch with all the candidates”, Gert Arens emphasized.

“We will carefully fulfill our duties, make very delicate comments and point out only to confirmed things. My only wish is to be able to write in the interim report that the elections were held in line with the obligations Belarus committee itself to,” Ambassador Gert Arens said.

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Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA) is Belarus’ biggest news agency providing the latest news about politics, economy, sports, culture and everyday life in Belarus. BelTA’s reporters operate in Belarus, Moscow, Kyiv, Chisinau, Warsaw, Vilnius, Caracas