OSCE Mission in Kosovo reaction to Serbian referendum

English

Gazeta Express

15/01/2022 17:43

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo issued a statement today saying that they are closely monitoring the recent developments in relation to the Serbian referendum.

The OSCE Mission said that they had been ready to conduct a collection of ballots operation in Kosovo line with previous precedent and with the consent of all relevant institutions, and indeed offered to do so. The core requirement for conducting such an operation is the consent of all sides.

In the absence of consent, it is not possible for the mission to conduct an operation of such magnitude, which needs to uphold the highest professional election standards. Moreover, according to the OSCE in times of the pandemic, planning and implementation of such an operation requires additional lead time in order to ensure the safety of election support staff and the voters. “In the absence of the necessary consent, as made clear in previous statements, and as communicated to all sides, it has not proved possible for the Mission to conduct such an operation on this occasion,” it is written in the press release. Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Davenport reiterated this message in a letter to the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija on 14 January and the Ambassador restated the position in a phone call with Dr Petar Petković this morning, 15 January. /GazetaExpress/