ODIHR experts present the 2022 elections final report and discuss recommendations in Hungary

Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented the final report on Hungary’s 2022 parliamentary elections and referendum in Budapest on 17 and 18 October 2023.

The experts discussed the report’s key findings and recommendations with government officials, members of the parliament, representatives of the media and civil society.

“We appreciate the invitation from the authorities and the opportunity to discuss our latest election report on Hungary,” said Ambassador Jilian Stirk, Head of the ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the 2022 parliamentary elections and referendum. “We hope the authorities will work closely with political parties and civil society to implement ODIHR’s recommendations, including those related to the legal framework and the media. This would help the country move towards ensuring a genuinely fair election campaign for the next elections.”

Discussions centred on the revision of the legal framework, ensuring equitable campaign conditions, preventing misuse of state resources and public officials from taking part in the campaign. The need to ensure media independence, media pluralism and balanced coverage during campaigns, as well as the importance of greater transparency and accountability of campaign finance and election dispute resolution were also discussed.

During the visit, ODIHR offered various forms of assistance to bring Hungary’s elections closer in line with OSCE commitments and international standards for democratic elections, including expert support, thematic workshops and legal reviews of electoral legislation.

ODIHR’s election observation methodology includes an assessment of countries’ efforts to implement previous recommendations through changes in legislation, procedures and practices. For Hungary, the ODIHR EOM evaluated the follow-up to recommendations from the ODIHR final report on the 2018 parliamentary elections and the ODIHR final report on the 2014 parliamentary elections. The mission concluded that no recommendations contained in the 2018 report were fully or mostly implemented, three had been partially implemented and 23 remain to be addressed.

In the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Document, all OSCE participating States committed themselves to “follow up promptly the ODIHR’s election assessment and recommendations”.