The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Mr. Grigol Vashadze, has sent official formal invitations to the President of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Mr. Kenneth Wollack, and to the President of the International Republican Institute (IRI), Mr. Lorne W. Craner, to send the election observers to Georgia for the upcoming October 2012 parliamentary elections.

As it is said in the statement spread by the Ministry, the official invitations sent to NDI and IRI emphasize the full readiness of the Georgian side to host the observers from these organizations at the time of their earliest convenience with the aim to facilitate the thorough monitoring of the processes in both the pre-election and election phases.

We will recall you that, upon the instructions of the President of Georgia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has extended the official formal invitations to the international organizations, such as the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), European Parliament and respective EU Institutions to send the election observers to Georgia for the upcoming October 2012 parliamentary elections. 

Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has conveyed its request to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Baroness Catherine Ashton to ensure the EU funding for the media monitoring project.

It should be noted that the extension of official invitations to the international observers was carried out almost seven months prior to the elections.

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