News and press releases

Improving the practices of election management bodies (EMBs) in the Western Balkans region was the main topic of a conference held in Sarajevo on 26 and 27 September 2023. The event was organized as part of the ODIHR project “ Support to Electoral Reforms in the Western Balkans ”, in co-operation

SKOPJE/WARSAW/COPENHAGEN, 7 September 2023- The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pia Kauma and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Matteo Mecacci, condemn the Russian Federation’s holding of so-called “elections” in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.

WARSAW, 4 September 2023 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened a limited election observation mission for the 15 October 2023 parliamentary elections in Poland, following an invitation from the national authorities.

The March 2023 parliamentary elections in Estonia were competitive and pluralistic and the election process, including internet voting, was administered efficiently, with minor technical difficulties. While trust in the internet vote remains high, some parties publicly questioned its integrity,

From 26 to 30 August, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan – jointly with UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Development Programme within the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – organised the second phase of a series of capacity-building training courses for representatives of disability-focused NGOs who aspire to participate in Uzbekistan’s 2024 parliamentary elections. The objective of this second phase was to complement negotiation techniques, focus of last July’s training, with public speaking skills.

As part of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro assistance to the State Election Commission, to strengthen its administrative capacity to ensure that people with disabilities can vote independently and in secret, the Mission facilitated a study mission between 16 and 18 August to London.

The April 2023 early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria were competitive and well managed by the election administration, and fundamental freedoms were respected. The legal framework was adequate for the conduct of democratic elections, however, frequent changes eroded trust, undercut efficiency and complicated timely preparations.