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Ministers'
Deputies
A voter registration will start at the beginning of July, final decisions are required at the present meeting.
———————————————— a. Request to conduct international observation of registration for the Kosovo Assembly elections (17 November 2001)
At their 754th meeting (6 June 2001, item 2.1a), the Deputies agreed to resume consideration of the reply to be given by the Council of Europe to a common request by the UNMIK and the OSCE to lead a new Observation Mission for the elections in Kosovo, once such a request has been officially received, following several discussions of the GR-EDS, the most recent of which was on 1 June 2001 (see synopsis, document GR-EDS(2001)CB11).
b. Other questions
Nothing for the time being.
Appendix 1
COUNCIL OF EUROPE The Secretary General
Reference:
Strasbourg, 11 June 2001
Dear Mr Haekkerup, Dear Ambassador Everts,
Thank you for your letter dated 7 June 2001 inviting the Council of Europe to conduct international observation of registration for the 2001 Kosovo Assembly elections.
I fully share your views about the importance and urgency of this registration and have therefore urged the Committee of Ministers to make the necessary means available.
I shall be in a position to give you a final reply as soon as the necessary budgetary decisions have been taken.
Yours sincerely,
(signed) Walter SCHWIMMER
Mr Hans HAEKKERUP Special Representative of the Secretary General UNMIK
Ambassador Daan EVERTS Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General OSCE Mission in Kosovo
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
COUNCIL OF EUROPE The Secretary General
Reference:
Strasbourg, 11 June 2001
Dear Minister,
The 2001 Kosovo Assembly elections will take place on 17 November 2001. For the sake of stability in the region, it is essential that there will be no fraud, either during the registration or during the actual elections.
The elections will be observed by a joint mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, the European Parliament, as well as the Parliamentary Assembly and Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
In a joint letter from Mr Haekkerup, Special Representative of the Secretary General/UNMIK, and Ambassador Everts, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General/OSCE Mission in Kosovo, dated 7 June , the Council of Europe has been asked to observe the voter registration. UNMIK and OSCE consider the Council of Europe best suited to conduct international observation of registration because of its experience in registration/election observation in Kosovo last year.
I fully share the assessment of UNMIK/OSCE that observing registration is as important as observing the election campaign and the election day itself. As they rightly point out, “it is often easier to perpetrate fraud in the course of voter registration than during polling itself, and mistrust of the voters' list can tarnish the outcome of an election”.
In order to ensure its credibility, the monitoring exercise has to be put into motion immediately. However, the extraordinary task needs appropriate budgetary decisions. The total budget of the Council of Europe observation mission would amount to about € 1,000,000, which is less than 5% of the budget allocated to the OSCE mission for organising the Kosovo elections.
In addition, the observation of the registration process would rely on the full secondment by governments of some fifteen long-term observers, deployed in the field as from mid-July.
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Letter addressed to all Ministers for Foreign Affairs The Committee of Ministers at Deputies level will come back to the overall question on 21 June 2001.
Given both the extreme urgency and the political importance of the matter, I appeal to you personally to contribute to a rapid and adequate budgetary decision by the Committee of Ministers.
Yours sincerely,
(signed) Walter SCHWIMMER
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