The Chair of the Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Council of Europe, Saša Magazinović - a member of the international observation mission in Bulgaria

Chair of the Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH) to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Saša Magazinović is currently in Sofia, where he is participating as a member of the Council of Europe's observation mission in the early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria.

Concurrently with the European Parliament elections, today Bulgaria is holding its sixth parliamentary elections in the last three years, following the collapse in March this year of a coalition that had been in power for just ten months.

In preparation for this observation mission, Magazinović met with Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdev, Minister of the Interior Kalin Stoyanov, and Minister for e-Government Valentin Mandrov, who provided detailed briefings on measures taken to ensure that the elections in Bulgaria are conducted in a democratic atmosphere and free from electoral irregularities.

"Being a member of an international observation mission in a European Union member state is significant for me for several reasons. Firstly, as a member of parliament from Bosnia and Herzegovina participating equally with colleagues from other countries in monitoring the electoral process in a country, but also because of the opportunity to gain insight into best practices, the functioning of the Central Election Commission, the media, and other institutions in the electoral process. The use of modern technologies in the electoral process in Bulgaria is also an interesting observation aspect, but an important part is also identifying problems that arise, which is very useful for understanding ways to improve the electoral process in the countries we come from. Every democracy, regardless of its level of development, has its strengths and weaknesses, and elections are the clearest indicator of the state of democracy," said Magazinović.

As part of the preparation, the Chair of the Delegation of the PABiH to the PACE also met with representatives of Bulgarian media who spoke about media freedom in Bulgaria and their role in the election campaign, as well as with members of the Central Election Commission. Representatives of the most significant political parties in Bulgaria presented their views on the course of the campaign so far and possible post-election coalitions to the PACE parliamentarians present. Experts from the OSCE/ODIHR provided a very precise briefing on the legal basis for holding elections, the relations of political actors, the role of individual institutions, and the rules and specificities of holding elections in Bulgaria.

Today, more than 6.6 million citizens of Bulgaria will have the right to elect 240 members of the National Assembly of Bulgaria. (End)