OREANDA-NEWS. A seminar took place in Vienna on July 21-22, dedicated to elections and observation of electoral processes.

The event, organized by the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office, gathered specialists from more than sixty member states and partners of this Organization, along with representatives of academic circles and NGOs.

From the Russian Federation MFA experts and representatives of civil society took part.

The seminar confirmed the still-persistent serious problems in the area of election observation, in particular, in the activities of the OSCE ODIHR on this track.

Russian participants drew attention to earlier initiatives put forward by Russia conjointly with other OSCE countries regarding the conduct of a comparative analysis of the electoral legislation of member states and elaboration of the Basic Principles for the Organization of ODIHR Observation of National Elections. The proposals were presented by the Russian participants to new ODIHR Director Janez Lenarcic.

The Russian side will continue working on the promotion of principled approaches toward the reformation of ODIHR election monitoring activities.