MOSCOW, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - The OSCE's election monitoring arm said on Wednesday it would send a team of five technical experts ahead of the arrival of observers for Russia's presidential elections March 2 elections.
Russia agreed on Tuesday to bring forward the arrival date for observers from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and to increase the previous quota of 70 observers invited to the polls.
Curtis Budden, an ODIHR spokesman, said the five experts would have to find accommodation, interpreters and drivers, as well as solve communications-related issues.
Another 15 ODIHR observers are expected to arrive in Russia on Friday. The group will monitor Russia's media ensuring the four presidential candidates have equal press coverage.
The Russian presidential campaign kicked off on February 2. The four registered candidates are: First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and Democratic Party leader Andrei Bogdanov.
President Putin is unable to run for a third term in office.
Budden stressed that as the sole organization among those invited that handles long-term monitoring the ODIHR would insist that its initial demands be met.
Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) had earlier invited ODHIR observers to arrive in Russia from February 27-28. The ODHIR subsequently requested that it be allowed to enter the country earlier so as to more effectively monitor the election campaign.
The CEC said on Tuesday that the first team of 20 observers could arrive on February 8, and another 50 on February 20.
