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WHEN: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 9:00 a.m.
WHAT: Washington Foreign Press Center On-The-Record RoundtablePANEL: OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Director Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, Jan Haukaas, Special Adviser to the Director, and Bureau of European Affairs, Office of European Security and Political Affairs Director Richard Holtzapple (opening remarks).
TOPIC: Strengthening Democratic Institutions across OSCE Participating States: ODIHR’s assessment of the 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections and continued election observation work across Europe and Central Asia.
WHERE: National Press Building, 529 14th Street, NW, Suite 800
RSVP: Please RSVP to Belinda Jackson Farrier at jacksonbk2@state.gov by noon on Friday, May 17, 2013.
BACKGROUND:
Following the deployment of 44 long-term observers throughout the United States to assess all stages of the U.S. electoral process, including the political campaign, media coverage, and election day, ODIHR has produced a final report of conclusions and recommendations on the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Ambassador Janez Lenarcic will visit the Foreign Press Center to discuss these findings and opportunities to improve the U.S. electoral process. ODIHR has observed U.S. elections since 2002 and has returned to the United States to discuss its election observation activity.
In 2012, ODIHR completed 17 election observation missions across the OSCE space and most recently conducted missions in Bulgaria, Georgia, and Macedonia. The institution has extensive field experience in promoting democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and the rule of law.
Foreign Media Only, Please
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WHEN: Thursday, May 23, at 10:30 a.m.
WHAT: Washington Foreign Press Center On-The-Record Briefing
BRIEFERS: Vann H. Van Diepen, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, and Ken Handelman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs
TOPIC: Tenth Anniversary of the Proliferation Security Initiative
WHERE: National Press Building, 529 14th Street, NW, Suite 800
RSVP: Please RSVP to Saúl Hernández at HernandezSA2@state.gov
BIOS: Vann H. Van Diepen and Ken Handelman
BACKGROUND:
The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Tenth Anniversary High Level Political Meeting (HLPM) will be held in Warsaw, Poland on May 28, 2013. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Van Diepen and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Handelman will describe the growth of this initiative to include 102 countries, and PSI’s accomplishments since its inception.
Foreign Media Only, Please
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