In addition to domestic observers, international missions will also monitor the parliamentary elections in Serbia. These include the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP), Insajder reports.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly announced that this would be its 12th election observation mission in Serbia. It stated that this demonstrated the assembly’s continued efforts to support democratic processes and improve electoral procedures in member states.
The delegation will be headed by Federica Onori (Italy), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Artificial Intelligence and a member of the Italian Parliament. The team will work closely with the other observation missions, they added. The delegation consists of around 80 parliamentarians and staff members from 29 countries, Insajder reports.
The ODIHR election observation mission is led by Eoghan Murphy (Ireland). It consists of a core team of 14 international experts based in Belgrade. ODIHR previously announced that it planned to request 300 short-term observers, who would join the mission several days before election day.
Murphy stated that their presence throughout Serbia over several weeks would allow them to speak with a wide range of stakeholders involved in the elections, monitor developments and understand their significance for the electoral process as a whole.
The European Parliament’s election observation mission will be led by Andreas Schieder (Austria). The EP delegation consists of seven members of parliament from five countries and six different political groups. Schieder also served as an observer during Serbia’s parliamentary elections in December 2023.
The delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is headed by Piero Fassino (Italy). It consists of 20 members, and it was announced that the mission would be in Serbia from October 23 to 26 to monitor the conduct of the snap parliamentary elections.
It was previously announced that the delegation would meet with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, the leaders or representatives of electoral lists and political parties participating in the elections, as well as the president of the Republic Electoral Commission (REC) or its representatives.
Meetings are also planned with representatives of the international community, civil society and the media, after which delegation members will observe voting on October 25. During the visit, legal support will be provided to the delegation by an expert from the Venice Commission, a Council of Europe body comprising independent legal experts, the statement said.
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