A 22-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL), will be in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1 to 4 October to observe the holding of the general elections, alongside observers from the OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies, and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The delegation will meet various political parties, the Central Election Commission, civil society and media representatives before observing the ballot on 3 October.

A PACE pre-electoral delegation, visiting Sarajevo from 12 to 15 September, noted “the peaceful environment of the campaign” and commended the Central Election Commission “for managing well an extremely complex electoral process”, though regretting that the network of domestic non-partisan observers was not well developed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In addition, the pre-electoral delegation was concerned that the authorities failed to amend the State Constitution and that consequently, these general elections would be organised according to rules which do not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.