U.S. Ambassador to OSCE Visits Armenia

U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Julie Finley, is visiting Armenia October 17-19, said the press office of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan. In Yerevan, Ambassador Finley will meet with government officials, the OSCE Office in Yerevan, civil society leaders, and media representatives. During these meetings, Ambassador Finley will review a range of issues relevant to the OSCE’s charter, the Helsinki Final Act. She will stress the importance of Armenia continuing to provide its citizens with greater rights and freedoms through such steps as ensuring a free and independent media, nurturing an open and representative political system, and combating trafficking in persons. She will visit Koltakchi, to tour the OSCE-managed mélange destruction project, which is processing stockpiles of toxic rocket fuel intended for Cold War era missiles into safe, usable crop fertilizer–eliminating a serious potential ecological hazard. The U.S. remains the principle sponsor of this project. Ambassador Finley will also emphasize the international community’s belief that the 2007 and 2008 parliamentary and presidential elections must be free and fair, in the eyes of both the Armenian electorate and international observers.