On 24 April 2023, more than 60 representatives of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional and Urban Development, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, as well as current and former representatives of the State Electoral Commission of the Republic of Croatia met to discuss challenges and peculiarities of holding post-war elections.
Following the exchanges with representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted in February-April this year, this first meeting with Croatian representatives continued the series of meetings between representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and representatives of election management bodies from foreign countries that have had experience of holding elections in a post-conflict/post-war period*.
The participants of the meeting were greeted by H.E. Ambassador of Croatia to Ukraine Anica DJAMIĆ who encouraged the exchanges between two countries on such a crucial democratic issue as elections, and expressed her gratitude to the President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia and President of the State Electoral Commission of the Republic of Croatia ex officio Radovan DOBRONIĆ for his readiness to share the Croatian experience and lessons learnt as regards first post-war elections in the country, in order to support Ukraine in its efforts to prepare for organising and holding elections in post-war period.
While opening the meeting, Daniel POPESCU, Head of Democracy and Good Governance Department of the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity of the Council of Europe, expressed his hope that these exchanges would be of much importance and use for Ukraine in further framing the solutions to those war related challenges which Ukraine is facing now and will definitely face further when preparing to the first post-war elections.
The Ukrainian representatives, including Olena SHULIAK, Chairperson of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development, and Oleg DIDENKO, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, expressed their gratitude to the Council of Europe for organizing such exchanges, highly emphasized their importance and respective international support in view of the most difficult elections in the Ukrainian history, and reaffirmed that holding post-war democratic fair elections is crucial issue for the whole Ukrainian society.
During the meeting, the Croatian representatives presented an overview on evolution of the SEC Croatia from an ad hoc institution to a permanent institution, jurisdiction for appointment of election commissions and polling station committees, legal framework for organisation and conduct of elections in 1997, as well as political context in the Republic of Croatia back in 1997.
Participants of the meeting exchanged on the experience and challenges faced by the Republic of Croatia in conducting 1997 local elections in Danube Region, which was at that time under occupation. The issues of elections security and terms for appointment and holding of these elections, as well as election administration (system and role of EMBs, appointment criteria, complex post-war conditions) were of particular interest for Ukrainian representatives.
General discussion touched upon legal and practical aspects related to the organisation and conduct of first post-conflict/post-war elections to consider in order to ensure fundamental electoral principles and electoral rights of citizens, as well as to strengthen the institutional capacity of election management bodies. Further details and practicalities related to the organisation of first post-war elections will be discussed during next online exchange to be held on 4 May 2023.
*Series of meetings are organized upon the request of Ukrainian partners and as follow-up to the High-level dialogue on “Good democratic governance in Ukraine: achievements, challenges and the way forward in post-war period” held in Strasbourg, France, on 8 – 9 November 2022, within the framework and with the support of the Council of Europe project "Supporting democratic post-war elections in Ukraine", implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" for 2023-2026.
