The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission ahead of the 12 April parliamentary elections, following an invitation from the national authorities and based on the findings of a pre-election needs assessment mission .
The mission is headed by Eoghan Murphy and consists of a core team of 15 international experts based in Budapest. 18 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 7 March, and ODIHR also plans to request 200 short-term observers, to arrive several days before election day. The core team experts and long-term observers come from 26 different OSCE states.
"Our long-term observers will soon be arriving in Hungary and will be present across the country from big towns to small villages, looking carefully at the process before, during, and after the vote. As well as meeting election officials, they will also speak to candidates, civil society representatives, and the media, to get a thorough understanding of all the most important aspects of the elections," Eoghan Murphy said.
The mission will closely monitor all key aspects of the elections, such as the campaign, including on social networks, campaign finance, the work of the election administration at national, regional and local level, the legal framework, institutional arrangements put in place by the authorities to detect disinformation, media coverage, and election dispute resolution. Observers will also assess the implementation of previous ODIHR election recommendations. Members of the observation mission will also meet representatives of the national authorities, political parties, civil society, the media, and the international community.
"As always, our mission is fully independent and impartial. Its assessment of the elections is based on a well-established methodology developed by ODIHR over more than 30 years and constantly refined in response to the evolving election landscape," Murphy said.
For election day itself, delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will join efforts with the ODIHR mission.
An interim report will be published by ODIHR some two weeks prior to the elections to update the public and the media on the observation mission's activities. The day after the elections, the mission's initial findings and conclusions will be presented at a joint press conference. A final report with a comprehensive assessment and containing recommendations to help improve the process for the future will be published in the months following the elections.
