Some 100 OSCE PA observers from 31 countries are deploying to Albania for the 11 May parliamentary elections. This marks the tenth time the OSCE PA has observed elections in Albania since 1996.
 

The Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission will be Farah Karimi (Netherlands), who serves as the OSCE PA's Special Representative on Central Asia and Head of the Netherlands Delegation. She has previously led other OSCE PA election observation missions, most recently to Serbia in 2023. The Head of the OSCE PA delegation of observers will be Björn Söder (Sweden), who serves as Head of the Swedish Delegation to the OSCE PA.
 

The OSCE PA team will work closely with the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, headed by Ambassador Lamberto Zannier (Italy), and partner delegations from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Simone Billi (Italy), and the European Parliament (EP), headed by Michael Gahler (Germany).
 

Observers will be thoroughly briefed by representatives of the election administration and civil society, candidates, party representatives, and experts on the situation ahead of the elections, before fanning out to several regions of Albania for election day observation.

In early April, a delegation, led by Special Co-ordinator Farah Karimi, conducted a pre-election visitto Tirana to assess the electoral environment. During the visit Karimi met with Ambassador Michel Tarran, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, representatives of political parties, civil society, media, the Central Election Commission, the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime, the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA), and the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission. The pre-electoral visit provided valuable insights into the political climate, media landscape, and civil society environment ahead of the elections.
 

“These parliamentary elections are taking place in a historic context, with Albania introducing out-of-country voting for the first time and implementing key changes to its electoral system,” said Special Co-ordinator Karimi. “Our mission is to observe and report on whether the elections not only comply with the legal framework but also reflect democratic values. Given the highly polarized political environment, it is essential that transparency and fairness are upheld throughout the process.”
 

Head of the OSCE PA delegation of observers, Björn Söder, emphasized that these elections represent a crucial test for the development of Albania’s democratic institutions and processes, particularly in light of the country’s ongoing accession talks with the European Union. He underscored the importance of close scrutiny and strong cooperation with partner observer delegations. “Our mission is to work closely alongside OSCE/ODIHR, PACE, and the European Parliament to assess whether the electoral process upholds transparency, ensures the integrity of voting procedures, fosters a level playing field for all candidates, enables the media to operate independently, and guarantees the accurate reporting of results,” he stated.
 

The elections will be assessed against democratic commitments contained in the OSCE’s 1990 Copenhagen Document.

The preliminary findings and conclusions for the elections will be presented at a press conference in Tirana on 12 May.