MEP Andreas Schieder shared Wednesday the European Parliament’s (EP) official response to a formal protest lodged by Serbian Parliament Speaker and acting president Ana Brnabic. The response noted that the EP’s seven-member observation delegation represents a broad spectrum of political groups and reflects the political diversity of the institution.
Oglas
On Tuesday, Brnabic sent a letter of protest to EP President Roberta Metsola objecting to the appointment of the delegation members for the upcoming October 25 elections, taking particular issue with the selection of Andreas Schieder as its head.
In its response, the European Parliament said that the observation delegation will carry out its mandate in full accordance with established international election observation methodology, observing the highest standards of independence, impartiality, objectivity and non-interference in the electoral process.
“I fully endorse these words. The Election Observation Delegation will carry out its work in strict accordance with the applicable rules and international standards, as well as the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers,” Schieder emphasized.
He noted that, in accordance with the official rules, he cannot and will not comment publicly on the elections or the political situation in Serbia while the election observation mission is ongoing.
“I will present the findings of our election observation mission at the press conference on 26 October,” Schieder said.
On Tuesday, the MEP said that protest against the observation mission had reached unprecedented levels, describing it as an “unprecedented attack” on the observers, after Brnabic accused Schieder and other members of the delegation of political bias in her letter to EP President Metsola.
Teme