A mission of OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), consisting of 13 international staff from ten OSCE participating States, has been in Chisinau for several days to monitor the election campaign, activity of electoral and municipal bodies, electoral legislation and its implementation and media coverage. The Mission’s head Dieter Boden told Thursday a news conference that the mission’s arrival over one month before the day of elections speaks about the attitude of experts who treat the June 3 polls not as a one-day event but as an ongoing democratic process. By 30 April, twelve long-term observers are expected to arrive in Chisinau and will be deployed throughout six regions of the country, including Chisinau, Balti, Edinet, Orhei, Hancesti and Comrat. Dieter Boden said that OSCE States will be requested to send 100 short-term observers to monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results. The observation mission follows an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Moldova. The day after the election-day, observers will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the observation mission. Dieter Boden also stated that mission experts will not comment on certain separated events within the election campaign. It is important to regard the elections as a whole. “Our mission is to observe and report, and not to interfere”, Boden said. The OSCE/ODIHR observes the polls in Moldova for the sixth time. The Office had monitored elections in Moldova for 11 years already. The OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission and the OSCE Mission to Moldova operate separately under their specific mandates.