International election observers to announce findings at press conference in Skopje on Monday

SKOPJE, 1 June 2008 - The International Election Observation Mission deployed to monitor the 1 June parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will announce its preliminary findings and conclusions at a news conference on Monday.

The mission is a joint undertaking of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The statement will be delivered by OSCE PA Vice President Pia Christmas-Moller, Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE short-term observers, together with Mevlut Cavusoglu, Head of the PACE delegation, and Ambassador Robert Barry, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR long-term election observation mission.

The International Election Observation Mission comprises a total of some 290 observers from 42 countries, including 36 long-term and 213 short-term observers deployed by the OSCE/ODIHR, as well as 17 parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA and 15 from the PACE.

Journalists are invited to attend the news conference at 14:30 on Monday, 2 June at the Aleksandar Palace Hotel in Skopje.

For further information contact:

Jens-Hagen Eschenbacher, OSCE/ODIHR, +389 (0) 72 651653 or +48 603 683 122, jens.eschenbaecher@odihr.pl

Andreas Baker, OSCE PA, mobile: +45 60108030, andreas.baker@oscepa.dk  

Vladimir Dronov, PACE, mobile: +33 663493792, vladimir.dronov@coe.int