OSCE Assists Georgian Elections with 1ml Euros

Georgian Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia Roy Reeve signed on February 17 an agreement with which the OSCE made 1 million euros available to cover the administrative expenses of Georgia’s parliamentary elections scheduled for March 28.

The amount will fund basic election administration operational costs, supporting the Central Election Commission with resources to run the elections in an effective manner.

At the OSCE Ministerial Council in Maastricht on 1 and 2 December 2003, the 55 OSCE participating States pledged to support Georgia in conducting this year’s democratic presidential and parliamentary elections.

OSCE Mission to Georgia reported that through the OSCE Georgia Elections Assistance Programme (GEAP), which was set up to administer the special funds, some 2 million euros went towards the presidential election on 4 January. Another 2 million euros are designated for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Other projects to be funded though the Programme will support capacity-building for the election administration, domestic observation and voter education outreach.