EU: The ODHIR report confirms concerns about irregularities in the elections in Serbia

2024-02-29 13:58:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

EU: The ODHIR report confirms concerns about irregularities in the elections in

The European Union assesses that the final report of the Office for Democracy, Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the elections in Serbia "confirms the EU's concerns" and demands that Serbia address reports of irregularities in elections in a transparent manner.

This is what the spokesperson of this institution, Peter Stano, said through a post made on behalf of the EU.

This was the first reaction of the EU after the publication of the ODHIR report.

ODHIR monitored the elections held in Serbia last year, while there were also observers from the European Parliament in those elections. Even the deputies of the European Parliament had reported a series of irregularities in the parliamentary, local and presidential elections and through an urgent resolution they had requested an international investigation into the irregularities.

"ODHIR's final report on the elections in Serbia confirms the EU's concerns: the electoral process needs significant improvements and further reforms. Reports of irregularities must be transparently investigated, including those related to local elections," said Stano.

"The EU welcomes the expression of the readiness of the authorities in Serbia to work on the implementation of the recommendations. There is no time to lose on the eve of the next elections in the country", he added.

In the ODIHR report, published on February 28, it was said that the extraordinary parliamentary elections of Serbia "were dominated by the decisive participation of the president [of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu?i?], which together with the systematic advantages of the ruling party [Party Serbian Progressive], has created unequal conditions for the participants in the election process".

It was also said that in the elections of December 17 in Serbia, among other things, basic freedoms were generally respected, but in the election campaign there was a harsh rhetoric, partiality in state media reports and misuse of public resources. The report also finds that the mechanisms for preventing intimidation and pressure on voters were not used sufficiently./ Rel