On January 25, the Quint Ambassadors met with the Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to express our continued commitment to free, fair, safe, and peaceful elections on February 14, and to share our election monitoring plans. While the pandemic has created additional challenges, we are confident of CEC’s capability to oversee the elections. We continue to call on Kosovo’s authorities to implement the recommendations made in the European Union Election Mission’s report on the October 6, 2019 elections.
We stressed that the CEC must ensure the electoral process is transparent and free from political interference. Pre-electoral procedures, including the certification of candidates, are still in progress. At this moment, we believe that the people of Kosovo deserve calm and maturity from all sides. It is important that legal decisions are respected, and avenues for appeal are pursued without interference. We urge everyone to refrain from inflammatory and speculative personal attacks.
We encourage all parties and candidates to engage in a fair competition across Kosovo, while abiding by COVID-19 measures throughout the campaign. As they weigh up their choices, the people of Kosovo deserve to hear detailed policy proposals from their politicians, with arguments made in a spirit of informed debate.
To ensure a successful election, it is also up to the people of Kosovo to turn out to vote and to do so safely, also following all COVID-19 measures. Our governments are committed to continuing our support for efforts to build a secure, prosperous, democratic Kosovo for all citizens, and to working closely with any government that is formed through free elections in accordance with the constitution.
