European Union

"In light of the European Union’s strong support for the electoral reform process in Kosovo, the EUSR/Head of European Union Office and EU Member States represented in Pristina would like to express concern with the lack of substantial progress to date, especially given the imminent conclusion of the Assembly Electoral Reform Committee’s mandate on 22 April 2012.

The importance of a comprehensive reform was highlighted in the 2010 EU Election Expert Mission's Report as well as in the European Commission’s 2011 Progress Report, which called for a simplified and more transparent system and for addressing electoral fraud. Also, European Commissioner Stefan Füle during his March 2012 visit to Pristina urged actors to rapidly come to a common view on the electoral reform so that Kosovo meets international standards and good practice for democratic elections.

It seems unlikely that such objectives can be met in the current limited timeframe. The EUSR/Head of European Union Office and EU Member States represented in Pristina therefore strongly encourage all political parties to engage more substantially and to consider a time-limited extension of the Electoral Reform Committee’s mandate to allow for a more thorough debate and consideration of EU recommendations, involvement of civil society and achievement of the original objectives of reforming and simplifying Kosovo’s electoral process to bring it in line with international standards."