COPENHAGEN, 14 September 2012 – The OSCE Chair-in-Office, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, has appointed Roberto Battelli of Slovenia to serve as Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission to the 14 October parliamentary elections in Montenegro.

"The strength of democracy throughout our region depends on all election stakeholders living up to their OSCE commitments and I look forward to observing once again how Montenegro is implementing its commitments," Battelli said upon receiving the appointment.

Battelli, the OSCE PA Treasurer and Special Representative for South-East Europe, has vast experience in Slovenian politics and has previously been appointed Special Co-ordinator for OSCE election observation missions in Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and been an active observer since the early 1990s.

In accordance with the 1997 Co-operation Agreement, Battelli will deliver the post-election statement on behalf of the OSCE observers at a news conference on 15 October. Previously appointed by OSCE PA President Riccardo Migliori as head of the OSCE PA delegation to the Election Observation Mission, Battelli will closely co-operate with his parliamentary colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well as with the OSCE/ODIHR long-term observers.

Since 1993, the OSCE PA has deployed more than 4,000 parliamentarians to observe 113 elections across the OSCE area.