Comprehensive monitoring report on reforms in Armenia
This report was prepared in the scope of the “Enabling civil society’s collective monitoring and advocacy to pursue credible and systemic reforms entailed in the Armenia – EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA)” project supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Armenia. This report was prepared by: Open Society Foundations […]
Opinion on legislative draft amendments concerning freedom of expression
Opinion on the Draft Law No 123 amending some regulatory acts passed by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova in the first reading on 7 April 2022 18 April 2022Addressed to Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of MoldovaEsteemed Speaker,Esteemed members of the Committee for Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sport and Mass-media, […]
Conditions to be met to hold a national referendum on security issues
In Ukraine, a national referendum on the issues of a security treaty can be called only by a popular initiative. For the referendum to be in accordance with the national legislation and democratic standards, Russian troops should withdraw from Ukraine, necessary infrastructure should be restored, and Ukrainian internal migrants and refugees should be given the […]
War against Ukraine – Statements by EPDE Members
Democracy defenders across Europe have been shocked by Russia’s attack on democratic and independent Ukraine. Within the EPDE, members have issued statements of solidarity and support for our Ukrainian colleagues. We have collected some of these here. We, the undersigned civil society organizations from Georgia and Ukraine, believe that Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine […]
Lack of public consultation in draft law
PUBLIC CALL Promo-LEX Association calls on the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova to fully address the electoral recommendations of the Constitutional Court To: The Parliament of the Republic of MoldovaCommittee on legal affairs, appointments and immunitiesCopy: The Central Electoral Commission On 10 March 2022, the Parliament approved, in the first reading, the Draft […]
Evaluation of the 2022 By-Elections of the Parliament of Georgia and the City Council of Batumi Municipality
Main Findings On the 2nd of April by-elections was held in the majoritarian districts of Rustavi-Gardabani and Batumi. Based on the ISFED monitoring mission, the following findings can be presented: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the barbarian war has had a significant impact on the pre-election environment. Therefore, the attention of political entities and a […]
Government-Friendly Election Observers at the 2022 Hungarian Parliamentary Elections
Image description 1st from left: Jerzy Kwasniewski, President and co-founder of Ordo Iuris Institute (photo: https://en.ordoiuris.pl/attorney-jerzy-kwasniewski); 2nd from left: Harald Vilimsky, Member of the European Parliament, I&D Group, FPÖ Austria (photo: https://kurier.at/politik/inland/fpoe-als-wahlbeobachter-in-ungarn/401955484); 3rd from left: Branko Grims, Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian Democratic Party (photo: https://demokracija.eu/focus/video-branko-grims-tells-the-european-parliament-we-need-a-strong-europe-a-europe-of-values/). In anticipation of […]
Human Rights Situation in Belarus: March 2022
Summary The ongoing war in Ukraine and its consequences have radically changed the current agenda in Europe and in the world; democratic countries have imposed new sanctions and restrictions on Belarus because of the Belarusian authorities’ support for Russia’s aggression. The Human Rights Center Viasna strongly increase steadily. Members of the Human Rights Center Viasna continue […]
European Union must support Hungarian civil society to strengthen democratic institutions and fair elections
The parliamentary elections in Hungary once again showed that democratic institutions in the country are at risk. International observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), as well as the NGO-observers from the European Network of Election Observation Organizations (ENEMO) attested the lack […]
EPDE member SILC co-founds citizen election observation organization VOS ahead of the 2022 general elections
EPDE member Swedish International Liberal Center (Silc) co-founded VOS – föreningen valobservation i Sverige – on 24 of March 2022, in cooperation with a group of election observers that have previously conducted election observation within the framework of the four party affiliated foundations Silc, the Palme Center, Green Forum, and CIS. VOS is the only […]