Romanian interim president meets with OSCE election observation mission

Romanian acting president Ilie Bolojan met on Friday, April 25, with a delegation from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, or ODIHR, of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), according to a statement from the presidential administration.

The acting president told the delegation that Romania "is faithful to democratic principles and the proper functioning of state institutions. Organizing free, fair, and transparent elections is a priority for the Romanian authorities, who will ensure compliance with the law."

Earlier this week, the OSCE body launched an election observation mission for the May 4 presidential elections in Romania, following an official invitation from national authorities.

The mission is led by Eoghan Murphy and consists of a core team of 13 international experts based in Bucharest and 22 long-term observers, who have been deployed throughout the country starting April 2. It is assesing the conduct of the elections in terms of compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.

Observers closely monitor all essential aspects of the elections, such as the conduct of the campaign, including on social media, the activity of the electoral administration at all levels, electoral legislation and its implementation, campaign finance, media coverage, and the resolution of electoral disputes, G4media.ro reported.

They also assess the implementation of previous ODIHR election-related recommendations. Meetings with representatives of national authorities and political parties, the judiciary, civil society, the media, and the international community are an integral part of the observation.

This is the first time in the last five years that ODIHR is sending an election observation mission to Romania. The last such OSCE mission was in 2020, for the parliamentary elections.

In 2024, the OSCE did not send observers for the presidential, parliamentary, local, or European Parliament elections.

(Photo source: presidency.ro)