OSCE PA to deploy some 50 observers for North Macedonia presidential election

COPENHAGEN, 12 April 2019 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is deploying nearly 50 observers, including 31 parliamentarians, to North Macedonia next week for the 21 April presidential election. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office has appointed French parliamentarian Sereine Mauborgne as Special Co-ordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission. Austrian parliamentarian Reinhold Lopatka will lead the OSCE PA’s delegation of observers. 

“This election presents an opportunity for voters to give direction on what they see as the future and long-term goals of North Macedonia,” Mauborgne said. “I hope to observe a competitive election and a constructive campaign, in line with international standards.”

Lopatka said: “North Macedonia has the opportunity with this election to demonstrate a clear commitment to democratic processes. I expect the authorities and electoral contestants to seize this opportunity and to ensure a well-run election that meets international expectations.”

Mauborgne serves as Head of the French Delegation to the OSCE PA and Lopatka serves as Deputy Head of the Austrian Delegation to the OSCE PA. They will deliver the post-election statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference in Skopje on 22 April.

For the 21 April presidential election, the OSCE PA will work closely with observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

This will be the ninth election the OSCE PA has observed in the country since 1994.