Observation missions: Security of journalists at risk on election day

The two largest lists that ran in the parliamentary elections in Serbia will accept the results, said today the special coordinator of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for conducting the observation mission, Gilles Bohm, who concluded this based on the meetings with the participants of the elections held the previous day.

After visiting the polling station at the "King Petar I" Elementary School in Belgrade, Bom expressed his positive impressions about voter turnout.

The head of the observation mission of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Federica Onori, said that not all recommendations were followed and cited the problem of the threatened safety of journalists and the use of public resources.

She said that the data will be collected and analyzed by the end of the day, and announced tomorrow. OSCE observers will visit polling stations in Serbia in order to assess voting procedures, vote counting and other elements of the election process. The head of the observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Owen Murphy, said today that hundreds of observers from that mission are monitoring the extraordinary parliamentary elections throughout Serbia.

During a tour of the polling station at the "Stari Grad" Electrical Engineering School in Belgrade, Murphy said that the election process is being monitored by 30 long-term observers, joined by representatives of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and that on Monday, October 26, they will together offer preliminary conclusions about the course of the election.