YEREVAN. – President Serzh Sargsyan on Saturday received the head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) observation mission, Ambassador Jan Petersen.

The OSCE/ODIHR mission is in Armenia to conduct an observation mission along the lines of the parliamentary election, which is slated for April 2.

First, the President stressed that Armenia attaches great importance to observation missions during the electoral processes in the country.

“We [i.e. Armenia] conscientiously and thoroughly study the observations, assessments by observation missions, and (…) endeavor to bring to fruition the recommendations which the observation missions offer,” said Sargsyan.

Also, he assured that Armenian authorities stand ready to collaborate with all observation missions, so as to conduct elections in accordance with international standards, and they expect an unbiased and reliable assessment from them regarding the electoral processes in Armenia.

Ambassador Petersen, for his part, stated that this is the eleventh time that the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission will be monitoring elections in Armenia. He added that their methodology and track-record meet the requirements for properly monitoring and making conclusions on elections in the country. 

In addition, he spoke about the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission’s collaboration with the authorities, political parties, and all other partners in Armenia. Also Jan Petersen informed that the observers of this mission have already spread out across the country and are ready to carry out their mission.