Chairperson Dimitrijevic Meets with UK Ambassador to Serbia

The meeting, held at the Ambassador’s initiative, focused in the work of the Republic Commission to date and the priorities for the coming period, as well as the continuation of cooperation with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

Chairperson Dimitrijevic briefed Ambassador Ferguson on the composition, responsibilities and work of the Republic Electoral Commission and other election administration bodies. He took this opportunity to thank IFES for the successful cooperation so far, which was launched in 2019, especially emphasising the importance of the support they provided to the REC in the election process conducted during the COVID pandemic.

"IFES is an organisation that provides support to the work of global election commissions. The Republic Electoral Commission enjoys intensive cooperation with IFES, especially on programmes and implementation of trainings for election administration bodies, as well as informing and educating voters, and we strive to raise this cooperation to a higher level, which will result in increasing the trust of voters and election participants in the election process itself," said Dimitrijevic.

Ambassador Ferguson said he was most pleased that the UK Embassy in Serbia has the opportunity to support the cooperation between the Republic Electoral Commission and IFES, in particular by strengthening the capacity of the REC support service and fostering cooperation with local electoral commissions, especially through the digitalisation of the process itself.

Director Nermin Nisic thanked the Republic Electoral Commission for the cooperation during which, as he assessed, significant results were achieved in improving the work of the election administration, which was also recognised by the ODIHR. He welcomed the establishment of a special sector within the National Assembly Service, which will continuously work on improving the election process.

The Secretary of the Republic Electoral Commission, Srdjan Smiljanic, briefed Ambassador Ferguson to the organisation and work of the sector established within the National Assembly Service to provide expert support to the REC, assessing that there is room to strengthen the capacity of the election administration, as well as the quality of election administration training, especially through the digitalisation process, in accordance with the best global practices and technological trends.

The REC Chairman concluded that there is room to improve the election process, when it comes to the REC, in terms of adopting bylaws, as well as working on fulfilling the ODIHR recommendations within the REC remit, especially through the digitalisation and improvement of existing digital platforms for training election administration bodies and informing and educating voters, created using the most modern methods for adult learning.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Secretary Dragana Odovic, as well as Vladimir Dimitrijevic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

Author: photo©REC