Brussels – Member of the Croatian Parliament Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ante Babić participated at the High-level Conference on the future of international election observation, co-organized by the European Parliament and the European Union External Action Service in the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels.
The Conference brought together representatives of Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation (DoP) partner countries as well as of Parliamentary Code of Conduct for Election Observation, civil society, international organizations, European Union institutions and representatives of National Parliaments of the European Union Member States participating in election observation missions led by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in order to exchange views and deeply reflect on the new challenges facing observation missions, such as the use of new information and communication technologies, the role and impact of social media, spreading disinformation and "false news" and violence associated with the elections.
The focus of the Conference was the exchange of experiences and best practices among parliamentary observers, including on the Parliamentary Code of Conduct for Election Observation. During the debate, there was talk about the organization of elections and the advantages and disadvantages of using new technologies, conflict prevention after the elections, security, especially cybernetics, as well as strengthening the co-operation between the European Union, the African Union and the United Nations regarding electoral process and election observation, the application of credible election observation methodologies.
Babić participated in the debate on the organization of elections, conflict prevention, security and peaceful transition. He welcomed the role of observation missions in terms of strengthening democracy and advancing electoral processes in transition countries. He referred to the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina held on October 7, 2018 and underlined that the elections were not conducted in accordance with the constitutionally guaranteed representation of constituent peoples and the fundamental principles of the Dayton Agreement, which questions their legitimacy and constitutionality, since members of one constitutive peoples in the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina elect a representative to another, that is to the Croatian people.
Such a situation "opens the door" to deeper instability in the country, while unstable Bosnia and Herzegovina means unstable European Union, Babić concluded. He warned that the Election Observation Mission of OSCE / OHIDR for General Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina should take into account the unconstitutionality of the electoral legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and additionally underlined the need for members of the observation missions to get familiar with the election system of the country in which they are observing the elections.