OSCE PA Secretary General meets NATO PA, PACE, EP counterparts on elections co-operation

COPENHAGEN, 10 January 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Spencer Oliver met his counterparts from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Brussels on 9-10 January for discussions that focused on enhancing co-operation in the field of election observation.

"Our parliamentarians are determined to build upon the track record we've established of solid co-operation on election observation with our counterparts at the NATO PA and PACE. We are now working to ensure that our co-ordination is the very best it can be, which will make the quality of our observation missions that much stronger," Oliver said at NATO PA headquarters.

The meeting was the third in a series of trilaterals between Oliver, PACE Secretary General Wojciech Sawicki and NATO PA Secretary General David Hobbs. The OSCE PA hosted an initial meeting in Copenhagen in February 2013 and a second meeting was hosted by PACE in Strasbourg in June 2013. 

The Secretaries General also discussed cooperation on communications initiatives and shared best practices on organizational and budgetary matters.

Following their meeting, the Secretaries General held a working lunch with Klaus Welle, the Secretary General of the European Parliament. The meeting also focused on election monitoring and in particular, the need for improved co-operation between the bodies in light of the October 2013 presidential election in Azerbaijan.

As one of the OSCE PA's core functions, election monitoring holds participating States accountable to their OSCE commitments on holding free, fair, transparent votes. Since 1993, more than 5,000 OSCE Parliamentarians and staff have observed more than 130 elections in more than 30 countries.

This is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international cooperation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.