Yesterday, the first meeting of this academic year of the Political Science Club, which has been operating at Volyn State University for several years, took place. The topic of discussion was the role of OSCE observers in Ukraine's electoral process. Young political scientists Zoryana Verbych and Volodymyr Pavlyuk invited to participate a direct participant of this mission, a long-term OSCE observer for the electoral process in Ukraine, Ms. Maud Johansson from Sweden. Ms. Maud worked as head of a precinct election commission during elections in Bosnia, as a short-term observer in Albania, and in Ukraine she is performing the role of long-term observer for the first time. Maud Johansson and her colleague Peter Gold (Canada) are responsible for two oblasts: Volyn and Rivne, and although their headquarters is located in Rivne, they periodically visit Volyn and communicate with representatives of all political forces in the region. The young people were interested in the observers' impressions of the electoral process in Ukraine, the consequences that could result from the opaque 2004 elections, and the participation of short-term observers who are to arrive in Kyiv on October 26. Ms. Maud reported that this year about 500 international observers will take part in the elections, mainly from Great Britain, Sweden, and Germany; 12 representatives of the mission will work in Volyn, who have set themselves the goal of visiting 10% of the district election commissions in the region. Currently, observation is underway of the administration and work of territorial and district commissions, the media, and violations of voters' rights and freedoms. Oksana Prokopchuk