Dutch senator to head PACE observers at Russian parliamentary polls

Dutch senator Tiny Kox will head the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's observer mission for Russia's parliamentary elections in December, the Russian envoy to PACE said on Monday. On Friday, PACE will make the final decision on the makeup of the delegation, which is expected to include 40 observers, Konstantin Kosachyov said. A group of five European parliamentarians - members of the observer mission - will visit Russia in November, added Kosachyov, who also heads the international affairs committee at the Russian parliament's lower house. Parliamentary elections in Russia are scheduled for December 4. The head of Russia's Central Election Commission, Vladimir Churov, met with Janez Lenarcic, the director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, in Warsaw on the weekend to discuss the international observers' participation in the polls. Churov and Lenarcic agreed that the Central Election Commission would send invitation letters to the observers within a week. They failed, however, to agree on the number of observers to be included in the mission, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday. In 2007, the ODIHR boycotted Russia's parliamentary elections, citing visa delays and "unprecedented restrictions" imposed on its observers by the Russian authorities. The OSCE subsequently declared the elections "not fair."