Kanerva added a panel of experts would convene to discuss the issue.
At the Rovaniemi conference, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped Finland would initiate reforms to the Organisation for security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) during its presidency of the body in 2008.
Lavrov called for common rules on how elections are inspected in various countries. He said the EU had put the brakes on measures to reform electoral supervision rules.
Kanerva said Finland would present reform proposals in Vienna next January. He noted that reforms are also in Finland's interest.
OSCE Cancels Monitoring of Russian Vote The OSCE, Europe's main election watchdog, says it has cancelled plans to monitor Russia's December 2 parliamentary election. The organisation blames delays and restrictions imposed by the Russian authorities. In a meeting held before the OSCE's announcement on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed the need for discussions on Russian-backed proposals that would place new restrictions on election observer missions. The OSCE is the successor to the CSCE, founded in Helsinki in 1975. YLE, AP, Reuters
