On January 10 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the delegation of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission headed by Heidi Tagliavini.
Minister Nalbandian hailed the cooperation between Armenia and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and thanked for the support of the structure to the improvement of electoral processes in Armenia.
Edward Nalbandian reiterated the resoluteness of the Armenian authorities to hold the presidential elections of February 18 in compliance with international standards. The Minister underlined that large-scale reforms have been implemented in cooperation with international organizations.
Ambassador Tagliavini thanked for the invitation to carry out an observation mission in Armenia and assured that the mission would be unbiased.
The Armenian Foreign Minister noted that the last parliamentary elections were positively assessed by international organizations, and corresponding proposals were submitted for the further improvement of electoral processes. According to the President’s decision, a task force was set up last August to implement the proposals.
The head of the Mission informed that the long-term observers will arrive in Armenia soon. Twenty-four long-term and 250 short-term observers are expected to follow the presidential elections in Armenia.
Minister Nalbandian, in turn, reiterated the willingness of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contribute to the activities of the mission.
