OSCE/ODIHR Director encouraged by further improvement in co-operation with Russia

MOSCOW, 8 September 2010 - Following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other senior officials and parliamentarians in Moscow, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, said today that he was encouraged by further improvement in the co-operation with the Russian Federation.

"My visit confirmed that we are making good progress in dismantling the misperceptions and suspicions that at times have overshadowed relations between ODIHR and the Russian authorities," Lenarcic said.

"I am very pleased with the open and constructive atmosphere in which this visit took place and am confident that this can lead to a deepening of our co-operation also at the practical level."

Talks focused on preparations for the OSCE Summit in December, election observation, freedom of assembly, the role of civil society, regional co-operation of national human rights institutions, and recent legislative developments with human rights implications in the Russian Federation.

In his meetings, Lenarcic thanked the Russian authorities for their support, including through the secondment of observers to election observation missions. He stressed ODIHR's readiness to assist the Russian Federation in its implementation of OSCE human rights commitments. It was agreed to continue the ongoing dialogue on elections and election observation, and to explore possibilities for concrete joint activities, in particular in the field of electronic voting.

During the two-day visit, the ODIHR Director met Foreign Minister Lavrov, Central Election Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov, Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, State Duma International Relations Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev, Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mikhail Margelov, and other senior officials and parliamentarians. The ODIHR delegation also met with representatives of civil society.