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Kosovo parliamentary elections, over 100 European observers to oversee process

Politiko 2025-01-18 21:07:18

Kosovo parliamentary elections, over 100 European observers to oversee process

Eighteen European observers will start work on monitoring the campaign for the kosovo parliamentary elections, which local observers are assessed as harsh and permeated with polarizing and inflammatory language.

The European Union's mission to monitor the February 9 parliamentary elections announced saturday that long-term observers come from 18 different countries.

"The teams are of mixed nationality and gender. They will assess campaigning and preparations for elections while covering all Kosovo municipalities. Observers are independent and impartial," said Nathalie Loiseau, the head of mission.

Loiseau told a news conference that it has never been more important for Kosovo to maintain democratic standards.

"We live in a time when democracies are being questioned, sometimes threatened globally. So the importance of ensuring a stable democracy in Kosovo has never been greater. Therefore we will observe, evaluate and if necessary we will not deviate from noting any kind of room for improvement where we see possible" she said, stressing that the presence of the mission is also evidence of continued European support for Kosovo on the path of further strengthening democratic governance.

"We are also showing the importance of this in numbers. On election day there will be over 100 European observers on the ground. Therefore, the European Union mission is an international observer mechanism with a long-term presence," Loiseau said.

Twenty-eight political forces, of which 20 political parties, five coalitions, two citizens' lists and one independent candidate, will participate in the February 9th elections, where two million voters are eligible, of which about 105 thousand citizens outside Kosovo have the right to vote.

The coalition of NGO Democracy in Action, which monitors elections in Kosovo, said on Saturday that the campaign for these elections is being met with inflammatory and hate speech.

On Thursday, the Electoral Panel for Complaints and Appeals fined the Democratic League of Kosovo 20 thousand euros, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo 12 thousand euros and the Vetevendosje movement three thousand euros for what it said was a "violation of the code of conduct" during the campaign for the February 9 parliamentary elections.

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