News and press releases

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.

Kazakhstan’s 20 November 2022 early presidential and 19 March 2023 early parliamentary elections took place in the context of reforms aimed at bringing the country’s elections closer in line with international standards and OSCE commitments, but further changes to the legal framework are needed for

TASHKENT, 10 July 2023 – Uzbekistan’s early presidential election was technically well prepared but lacked genuine competition. Positively, recent reforms to the legal framework have taken some previous ODIHR recommendations into account, but fundamental freedoms remain restricted, the low-key campaign lacked meaningful engagement with voters, and significant procedural irregularities were observed on election day, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today.

From 5 to 7 July, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan in collaboration with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Association of Disabled People of Uzbekistan organized a training course on enhancing negotiation skills. This marks the first 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.