News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 9 November 2020 – Following reports of protests against the results of the 31 October parliamentary elections and clashes with the police in recent days in Tbilisi, Georgia, OSCE Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE election mission Elona Gjebrea Hoxha (MP, Albania) and Head of the OSCE PA Delegation Pia Kauma (MP, Finland) called on the protesters to refrain from violence and on the authorities to respect the fundamental freedoms of assembly and expression...

WASHINGTON D.C., 4 November 2020 – Yesterday’s vote was hard-fought and competitive with a high degree of engagement by election workers and citizens in the face of great legal uncertainty and a highly polarised political environment fuelled by aggressive campaign rhetoric, international observers to the US general elections said in a statement today.

CHISINAU, 2 November 2020 – Moldova’s 1 November presidential election was competitive and conducted within an adequate legal framework, but frequent and late changes to both legislation and administrative rules contributed to legal uncertainty, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded in a preliminary statement today...

TBILISI, 1 November 2020 – Georgia’s parliamentary elections were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected. Nevertheless, pervasive allegations of pressure on voters and blurring of the line between the ruling party and the state reduced public confidence in some aspects of the process, international observers said in a statement today. The elections were conducted under a substantially revised legal framework, following broad public consultations that brought some improvements for the holding of democratic elections, but further efforts to address shortcomings are needed, the statement says...

KYIV, 26 October 2020 – Ukraine’s local elections were conducted under a substantially revised legal framework which, despite some improvements, requires further refinement to address remaining shortcomings, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today. The Central Election Commission administered the elections professionally and efficiently, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the work of territorial commissions was often politicized, and was negatively affected by frequent replacements of their members.

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in co-operation with the civil society organization (CSO) "Zašto ne?" Sarajevo launched a new web platform, www.glasometar.ba, on 22 October 2020, to support the development of a Voting Advice Application (VAA) in Brčko District. The VAA is designed to help voters make informed decisions in the run-up to, and during elections...

The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) supports the Press Council’s “STOP! Hate Speech” campaign launched on 16 October 2020. The aim of this campaign is to identify and respond to hate speech in online commentary during the 2020 local election campaign...