Press release 15 August 2008
Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Swedish election observers to Belarus

Yesterday the Government decided to send 18 election observers and two statisticians to Belarus prior to the parliamentary election on 28 September. Three of the observers will soon be travelling to Belarus to be in place well in advance of the election.

The EU expects international observers to be given the opportunity to monitor the election without constraints. It expects the opposition candidates to be able to register without problems and the opposition to be able to participate in the election campaign on equal terms, to take part in the work at polling stations and in counting votes and to be given access to the state media. The EU also expects members of the opposition to be able to enter parliament.

"We are working to achieve a situation where free and fair elections can take place in Belarus too, in accordance with international standards. The democratic powers in the country must be able to take part in the election process," says Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson.

The decision to send election observers follows a request from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Sida is responsible for the recruitment and training of Swedish election observers. Questions may be addressed to Sida's election monitoring group.