ODIHR mission in Albania ahead of June polls

TIRANA, March 14 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has sent a mission to Tirana to hold a four-day trip and check the country’s preparation for the June 23 parliamentary polls.
The ODIHR’s Needs Assessment Mission held the visit March 11-14 during which he met with Interior and Foreign Ministers, Flamur Noka and Edmond Panariti respectively, Prime Minister Sali Berisha and also main opposition Socialist party leader Edi Rama. They will also meet leaders of other smaller parliamentary political parties, other political leaders sand the civic organization representatives.
The mission will prepare a report on the evaluation and the needs Albania has for monitors who may come to follow the June elections.
The mission’s report will be available in their site, they said, though not defining when.
Albania should meet the international standards.
OSCE Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth said that the international standards coming from the OSCE, from the Council of Europe and also most importantly, from the European Union, were not contradictory at all.
Post-communist Albania has never held totally free and fair, democratic elections which are always contested from the losing side and also the international community.
The ODIHR has always been the monitoring international institution which produces a report at the end of the polls.