Political observers of the post-Soviet Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) need clear criteria to evaluate political elections, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights was established in 1990 and is based in Warsaw. The office deploys election observation missions to OSCE participating states to assess the implementation of OSCE commitments relating to elections.
“The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights still lacks clear criteria to evaluate election processes and clear procedures to form missions,” said Andrei Nikiforov, deputy head of the Russian delegation to the annual OSCE human rights meeting which was held in Warsaw on Tuesday.
“The work of the office should be regulated and strict criteria should be worked out,” Nikiforv said.
The OSCE is particularly active in the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the republics of the Caucasus.