August 2017, Oslo

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee, an EPDE member, will organize for the fourth time the international election observation of the Norwegian parliamentary elections, which will take place on Monday, 11^th of September. 25 observers from EPDE-member organizations in the former soviet republics will come to Norway to learn about the Norwegian election system and see it in action. Guests from Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Russia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine will have a unique chance to observe the peaceful and constructive process of election campaign and voting. All the participants are already experienced observers of domestic, and in some cases international elections. This gives room for exchange of ideas inside the group, as well as between observers and the receiving side. Norway also has much to learn from these visits that take a fresh look at hundred year old democracy.

NHC hopes to give the guests both new insights and inspiration through a specially tailored two-day training, visits to the Parliament, the City Hall, and meeting the biggest political parties in Norway. On the day of the election, observers will be deployed throughout the country, from Arendal in the South, to Karasjok in the North. To conclude, Helsinki committee will invite to an open seminar with topic Autocratic Elections: Stabilizing Tool or Force for Change?, where a panel discussion consisting of our guest-participants and Norwegian experts will try to shed light on this relevant for many former soviet countries issue.