COPENHAGEN, 4 March 2014 – OSCE parliamentarians will travel to Serbia next week to observe the country's 16 March parliamentary elections and provide leadership for the OSCE's short-term observer mission.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter has designated Roberto Battelli (MP, Slovenia) as Special Co-ordinator of the mission. Luigi Compagna (MP, Italy) will serve as Head of the OSCE PA Delegation, which includes nearly 40 parliamentarians from 15 OSCE participating States.

Members of the delegation will travel to polling stations across Serbia, working closely with long-term observers from OSCE/ODIHR and in co-ordination with colleagues from PACE.

The mission will assess the elections against democratic commitments contained in the OSCE’s 1990 Copenhagen Document.

“These elections are an important chance for Serbia to again demonstrate its commitment to democratic electoral standards and to put reforms into practice that enhance the integrity of the process. I look forward to observing,” said Special Co-ordinator Battelli.

Battelli became a member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in 1992 and has observed more than 20 elections across the OSCE area. He has served as Head of the OSCE PA Delegation and as Special Co-ordinator of short-term OSCE observer missions in several countries in the Balkans.

Battelli currently serves as both the Treasurer of the OSCE PA and the OSCE PA's Special Representative on South East Europe, a position he has held since 2006.

Compagna, the Head of the OSCE PA Delegation to Serbia, is a senior Italian senator. He has served as a member of his country’s delegation to the OSCE PA from 2001 to 2006 and since 2008.

Compagna has participated in many OSCE election-observation missions, including to Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and the United States of America.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has previously observed parliamentary elections in Serbia in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2012, in addition to several presidential elections.

Since 1993, more than 5,000 OSCE parliamentarians and staff have observed more than 130 different elections in more than 30 countries.