News and press releases

The OSCE Presence in Albania, in close partnership with the Albanian State Police and with the support of the Central Election Commission and the General Prosecutor’s Office, organized a series of training courses for about 6,000 police officer across Albania. The training courses, which started on 26 January 2021 and will run until mid-March, address the role of the police in the electoral process and comes ahead of the 25 April parliamentary elections.

SARAJEVO, 22 January 2021 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the Embassies of the US and UK, and the Embassy of Sweden in BiH, as chair of the OSCE, welcome the decision of the Central Election Commission to annul the elections in several polling stations in Doboj and Srebrenica, having detected serious irregularities in the election processes. The decision of the CEC will help ensure the integrity of the elections and restore citizens’ confidence in election administration. We urge relevant authorities to investigate the reported allegations of electoral fraud promptly.

BISHKEK, 11 January 2021 – Despite a large number of candidates and initiatives to improve the election process, the integrity of Kyrgyzstan’s early presidential election was weakened by a major imbalance in the outreach and visibility of the candidates as well as allegations of misuse of public resources, international observers to the presidential election said in a statement today.

NUR-SULTAN, 11 January 2021 – While preparations for Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections were efficiently run, an uncompetitive campaign and systemic de facto limitations on constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms left voters without genuine choice, thus missing an opportunity to pilot the announced political reforms, international observers to the parliamentary elections said in a statement today.

WARSAW, 7 January 2021 – Watching the increasingly disquieting events unfolding in the United States capital in recent hours following the November general elections, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) voices its concern regarding the integrity of the democratic process, and calls on all sides to keep to the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

COPENHAGEN, 4 January 2021 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will deploy seven parliamentarians and staff from five countries to observe the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan this Sunday. The PA’s observer team will focus its efforts in the capital, Nur-Sultan, and will work closely with long-term observers deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Altogether, the OSCE will have some 30 observers in the country.

SARAJEVO, 18 December 2020- On 20 December the citizens of Mostar will, finally have the opportunity, after waiting 12 long years, to vote in local elections for the City of Mostar...