Stano: ODIHR report confirms EU concerns

“The final OSCE/ODIHR report on early parliamentary elex confirms EU concerns: the electoral process requires tangible improvement and further reforms. Reports of irregularities need to be addressed in a transparent manner, including those related to local elections,” Stano wrote in an X post.

He added that the EU welcomes the readiness of the Serbian authorities to work with ODIHR on implementing the recommendations. “No time to lose ahead of future elections in the country,” he wrote.

ODIHR released its final report on the December 17 elections on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news briefing on Thursday, Stano said that the report “confirms our clear messages indicated already in the statement from the 19th December - the electoral process in Serbia requires tangible improvements and further reform, because the proper functioning of Serbia’s democratic institutions is at the core of its EU accession process”.

He said that the European Commission is in contact with the Serbian authorities to help deal with the irregularities and the causes for concern expressed by the EU, adding that all credible reports of election irregularities should be followed up transparently by the national authorities.

“This is something we are taking very seriously and we working with partners on addressing all these issues,” he said.

“There are more elections to come in Serbia so it is really important to address everything that was pointed out by the ODIHR report,” Stano said.