Mr. Chairman, we appreciate the information we have received from the Croatian delegation concerning the parliamentary elections now regrettably scheduled for January 3.

As we have noted before, it is essential that these elections be free, fair, and comply fully with democratic standards.

We believe that it is important that ODIHR monitor these elections in a robust manner so that we can be certain that they have met the criteria established.

The United States plans to provide 2 long-term observers and up to 25 short-term observers to the ODIHR mission.

We encourage all other OSCE participating States to begin now to identify and send election observers to Croatia. Time is of the essence, given the short time remaining before elections are held and the challenges that the election date poses for the monitoring mission.

Now that these elections have been formally scheduled, we would like to remind the Government of Croatia of a number of steps it should take in order for the international community to be able to determine that these elections meet the highest standards. It needs to ensure the enfranchisement of all Croatians, including refugees, who are willing to assume the responsibility of citizenship. In this regard, we hope the Government of Croatia will take steps to speed up the documentation process to allow for rapid adjudication of citizenship claims.

Voter registries should be made public and accessible to all voters and parties with clear procedures for updating the voter lists.

Domestic election monitors should be given unlimited access to the voting and tabulation centers at all times. Also, we expect the Government of Croatia to accredit all international observers who seek to monitor these elections.

Finally, we remain concerned that public media remain firmly under control of the ruling party, which continues to use state-owned television, in particular, to support and advance its election campaign.