16 October 2017 - At a joint press conference with OSCE/ODIHR in Skopje, preliminary findings were presented further to the international observation of the municipal elections held in 'the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' on Sunday, 15 October. The Congress - who joined efforts in this case with the ODIHR Mission - deployed six teams involving observers from 12 Council of Europe member States to monitor the vote in some 100 polling stations throughout the country. The Head of Delegation, Congress Rapporteur Karim Van Overmeire (Belgium), made clear in his statement that the voter turnout of some 60 percent was an important element of the overall positive atmosphere in which the elections took place, despite some incidents during the campaign and also on Election Day. He also referred to issues that should be addressed by the authorities, in particular, the training of members of the Electoral Boards in order to ensure coherent implementation of the rules and further sustainable up-date of the voters' lists to prevent fraudulent manipulations and provide for a closer link between voters and the elected representatives of a specific municipality. 'Regarding the situation of local self-government, we encourage the authorities, immediately after these elections, to put programmes into practice in the interest of further sustainable development at the local level and to improve the living conditions of all citizens of this country', Van Overmeire concluded.

Press release and joint statement with OSCE/ODIHR
Speech by Karim VAN OVERMEIRE
Programme of the Election observation mission
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