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 […]
Parliamentary elections in Hungary – prospects for political change?
On 3 April, Hungary will hold its highly anticipated parliamentary elections as well as a national referendum on “child-protection measures” which is widely seen as being used to promote the government’s anti-LGBTQ+ narrative. The elections are being held while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues across the border and an influx of refugees flee to […]
A tilted playing field favors the government in Hungary’s April 3 parliamentary elections
Zsuzsanna Végh Parliamentary elections are taking place in Hungary on April 3 and will be decided among two political blocks in an unprecedentedly polarized environment. Following irregularities observed in previous elections in 2014 and 2018 resulting in “free but not fair” elections, OSCE ODIHR has requested and successfully fielded a full-scale election observation mission to […]
Illegitimate Russian government waging war on Europe
On 24 February, military attacks were launched against Ukraine by a Russian government that lacks legitimacy after being elected through unfair and undemocratic elections. This attack was ordered by Putin and his justification for the attack was approved by the State Duma, which unanimously ratified Putin’s decree recognizing the independence of Ukraine’s separatist republics. […]
Constitutional referendum – findings and conclusions
On February 24, the Russian Federation launched a military attack on Ukraine, including from the territory of Belarus. The transport and military infrastructure of Belarus is used for military operations. The authorities have not attempted to eliminate the factors in the legal regulation of electoral procedures that led to the onset of the post-election […]
Discussion summary – Belarus’ constitutional referendum amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: what are the consequences for Europe?
Originally, this EPDE public discussion was planned to discuss the constitutional referendum in Belarus. However, the outbreak of Russia’s war in Ukraine forced a complete change of focus, looking not only at what this referendum means for Belarus, but also at the more far-reaching implications of growing authoritarianism for European security. The Belarusian case teaches Europe […]
