COPENHAGEN, 16 April 2014 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe the upcoming parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and provide leadership for the OSCE's short-term observer mission.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter has designated Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) as Special Co-ordinator of the mission to observe the 27 April vote. Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal) will serve as Head of the OSCE PA Delegation, which includes nearly 30 parliamentarians from 13 OSCE participating States.

"I look forward to arriving in Skopje and hope to observe an election that will help consolidate democratic gains. The country has an important opportunity in the upcoming vote to reaffirm its commitment to free, fair and transparent elections,” Muttonen said.

Members of the delegation will travel to polling stations across the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, working closely with long-term observers from the OSCE/ODIHR and in co-ordination with colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

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

Special Co-ordinator Muttonen is the Deputy Head of Austria’s Delegation to the OSCE PA.  She was first elected to the Austrian parliament in 1999 and has been a member of her country’s PA Delegation since 2000. She has participated in numerous election observation activities.

Isabel Santos, the Head of the OSCE PA Delegation to observe the upcoming elections, serves as the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has previously observed parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 2011, 2008, 2002, 1998 and 1994, 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.