COPENHAGHEN, 24 January 2013 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Deputy Secretary General Tina Schoen will travel to Armenia 29-30 January for a pre-election visit ahead of February’s presidential election.

Schoen and Operations Officer Iryna Sabashuk will hold meetings in Yerevan to gather information about the pre-election situation in the country and prepare logistical elements for the mission.

This will mark Schoen’s 25th visit to Armenia. She served as the chief of staff Special Co-ordinator Francois-Xavier de Donnea during the OSCE’s observation of the 2012 parliamentary elections in Armenia and previously traveled to the country with numerous OSCE PA presidents, special representatives and election observation missions.

Vice-President Tonino Picula (Croatia) has been appointed to lead the Assembly's election observation mission and will travel to Armenia in early February.

Picula, who recently led the OSCE election observation mission in Georgia, is a former foreign minister of Croatia. He previously led the OSCE election observation missions to Russia in 2012, Kazakhstan in 2011 and Moldova in 2010.