Brnabic Asks OSCE for Team of Experts to Assess Situation ahead of Elections

OSCE OEBS

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic sent a letter to Matteo Mecacci, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, on Oct. 9, asking him to consider sending a needs assessment mission and to appoint a team of experts to work with the government and all other relevant stakeholders in appraising the pre-election atmosphere and preparations for the upcoming elections in Serbia.

Her letter stressed that cooperation between Serbia and the ODIHR to date had been characterized by strong commitment to democratic values, transparency and the rule of law, and that through that cooperation Serbia had demonstrated its dedication to carrying out ODIHR's recommendations, improving the legislative framework and advancing the overall pre-election environment, the government said in a press release.

One day earlier, five parliamentary opposition parties and organizations sent a letter to all relevant international bodies asking them to opine on election conditions.

Their letter asks if the elections would be deemed not free or democratic if they are held without recommendations from a report by ODIHR, i.e. OSCE, having been met -- recommendations that the Serbian government has undertaken to fulfill, reads a press release issued by the Freedom and Justice Party.

The request was initiated by the Freedom and Justice Party, the Free Citizens' Movement, the Movement for a Turnaround, the Concord trade union and the Green-Left Front. The letter was sent to the European External Action Service General Directorate, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia, Vladimir Bilcik, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar, the EU and U.S. ambassadors to Serbia, and the heads of the OSCE and Council of Europe missions in Serbia.