OSCE: Full-Scale Observation Mission to Hungary

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has proposed a full election observation mission to Hungary for the April 3 parliamentary elections, the major Hungarian blog on EU affairs, Eurologus reports. So far, only EU member country where such a mission was deemed necessary has been Bulgaria.

The so-called needs assessment mission studied election-related legislation in Hungary in January, at the invitation of the Hungarian government, and proposed 18 long-term observers to Hungary, to be joined by 200 observers who will arrive shortly before April 3 and leave a few days after the elections.

The evaluation mentioned possible voter intimidation and vote-buying, the media coverage of the elections, the transparency of campaign financing, the effectiveness of the complaints and appeals procedure, and the impact of the simultaneous holding of what the government terms as ‘child protection referendum’ on these aspects.

They also mention that, contrary to previous OSCE recommendations, campaign finance legislation has remained largely unchanged in Hungary since the last parliamentary elections.