On March 22 Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received Radmila Shekerinska, the Head of the OSCE /ODIHR monitoring mission.

Welcoming the guest, Minister Nalbandian mentioned that Armenia actively is engaged in the cooperation held in the frames of the OSCE /ODIHR and the activities of the Organization. The poof of it is the fact that Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs is the first foreign minister to visit the Organization’s headquarter in Warszawa in 2009.

Minister Nalbandian reaffirmed the Armenian authorities’ commitment to hold the upcoming parliamentary elections in accordance with international standards underlining that for achieving it, in cooperation with the international organizations Armenia hasimplemented comprehensive reforms. Particularly the electoral code was amended which was approved by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and OSCE /ODIHR, as well as a number of undertaken important steps were positively assessed by the international community.

Radmila Shekerinska expressed gratitude for the invitation sent to the OSCE /ODIHR to participate in the monitoring mission and mentioned that their main propose is to support the improvement of electoral processes, and the observers would be unbiased in it.

The Head of the OSCE /ODIHR monitoring mission informed that the OSCE /ODIHR monitoring mission’s long-term observers would arrive in Armenia next week and the monitoring mission would start to work fully. It’s expected to have 24 long-term and 250 short-term observers during the upcoming elections.

Minister Nalbandian reaffirmed the readiness of the Armenian MFA to provide support to the activities of the mission within its mandate.