On 21 September, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ) informed that Poland had refused to grant consent for OSCE/ODHIR observers to come to the Parliamentary elections that are scheduled for 21 October 2007. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anna Fotyga, assessed on that occasion that the note submitted to Poland regarding the observers’ arrival is an “inappropriate document”. As she emphasized, “Poland is a country with a stable democracy”. The OSCE itself considered the refusal as unprecedented.(04-OCT-07)


Written by: Agnieszka Chmielecka/ HRH Warsaw
Source: www.gazeta.pl, www.rzeczpospolita.pl

Obligatory invitation
The invitation of observers to elections is an obligation for each OSCE Member State [under the Copenhagen Document of 1990] – stated Urdur Gunnarsdottir, the spokesperson for the Office in Warsaw, at that time. On 2 October, the Zagranica Group, an association of Polish non-governmental organizations working abroad, submitted an open letter regarding this issue to Minister Fotyga. The letter was signed inter alia by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, a supporting member of the Group. Its English version can be found under the link below: www.hfhrpol.waw.pl/news94-en.html

The final decision
The Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Christian Strohal, arrived in Warsaw this week. Following his meeting with Minister Fotyga, the official OSCE website (www.osce.org/odihr-elections/item_1_26966.html) informed that on 21 October the organization’s representatives will after all observe the course of elections in Poland.  


The Zagranica Group is an association of Polish non-governmental organizations working abroad in cooperation with and for the benefit of foreign partners. All the members of Zagranica Group are conjoined by the will of acting together in order to create better conditions in Poland and Europe for developing supportive activities for the countries in need. One of the supporting members of the Group is the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.