The CEC raises doubts about several NGOs that applied to be election observers

The application to observe the October 12 election process with 256 members by a non-governmental organization, registered with Kosovo institutions a week ago, has raised doubts among CEC members. After the members of the Commission expressed concerns about other organizations at Wednesday's meeting, the CEC has decided that instead of accrediting 33 observation organizations, the documentation provided for 7 of them will be reviewed.

Doubts raised by members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) regarding the activities of some non-governmental organizations have led the Secretariat of this commission to change on Wednesday the initial recommendation for their accreditation as observers in the local elections of October 12. 

One of the reasons that raised suspicions among CEC members during Wednesday's meeting was the application with 259 observers from an organization that was registered a week ago.

Sami Kurteshi, who is a member of the CEC from the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV), has requested clarification from the Secretariat regarding the organization "Power of Voice", which he stressed that he had not heard of before.

"Is there any possibility of clarification, because I really have not heard of this non-governmental organization and the number of observers is extremely large for an unknown organization, because it is a matter of both human resources and material resources," said Kurteshi.

The application of this organization to be accredited to observe local elections with around 260 members has been qualified as strange by the CEC member from the ranks of the Democratic Party (PDK), Arian Elshani. 

also Local elections October 1, 2025 CEC members raise doubts about some NGOs aiming to observe elections, seek clarifications

"I don't think it's the only one. There are other organizations, for which I raise concerns and dilemmas about how functional they are, how many activities they have and how real they can be, both in terms of representation and the work they will carry out on election day. I'm talking about the youth center in Shtime, with 49 observers," Elshani emphasized.

The acting head of the CEC Secretariat, Besnik Buzhala, emphasized that these organizations have met the required criteria. 

"One of the criteria required from the documents is that non-governmental organizations be registered according to the laws in force, be registered with the relevant institutions," he said.

Regarding this assessment of Secretary Buzhala, CEC member from LVV, Alban Krasniqi, expressed criticism, emphasizing that the treatment of these organizations is being done in a technical manner. 

"There is a permanent risk of introducing foreign influences under the guise of observers. I think it is not so simple to look at the technical criteria so narrowly," he said.
And CEC member from the Democratic League (LDK), Sami Hamiti, has also raised concerns about another organization that has applied for accreditation. 

"'Udruzenje Gradjana Restart' is a local non-governmental organization. It could have received such a document, but this organization is from Republika Srpska, it is a non-governmental organization, which is at least non-governmental there, because it plays the function of power there, both supporting individuals and certain policies," he said.

But the acting secretary, Buzhala, said that the documentation required from each organization is determined by the election regulations, adding that despite the doubts raised, nothing more can be done. 

also Elections 2026 29 May 2026 CEC accredits 761 observers for June 7 elections, rejects two organizations

"There may be suspicions about organizations, but the office is not obligated... it only handles the documentation they bring. That's what I can tell you," he said.

After a few minutes of pause during the meeting, CEC members agreed to accredit only a portion of the organizations. For 7 of those, about which they expressed doubts, they requested additional clarifications. Out of 33 international organizations, non-governmental organizations and diplomatic missions with a total of 1.032 observers initially proposed to be accredited, the CEC approved the requests of 26 of them, with 521 observers. Regarding the doubts raised on Wednesday at the CEC meeting, KOHA sent questions to the addresses of the three non-governmental organizations mentioned, but did not receive a response during the day.