President Donald Trump has shut out European election observers and sought to limit mail-in voting ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. Some groups are increasingly concerned that Trump will claim election fraud, as he did in 2020. People still have vivid memories of the January 6 storming of Congress, says Kate Mason, a lawyer who works on election security in Michigan.
World politicsA Swedish delegation of eight people will not be allowed to observe the midterm elections in the US, which has banned international observers. This is a decision that stands out in many ways, says Håkan Svenneling (V), the new chair of the Riksdag’s OSCE delegation.
Swedish politicsElection observers from the OSCE are not being invited to monitor the US congressional elections in November. "Regrettable," the organization writes in a statement.
World politicsPolls closed Sunday night in Armenia's high-profile parliamentary election. The big question is whether the country should move closer to the EU or return to close cooperation with Russia. Preliminary results are not expected until Monday, but early results show Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's ruling party leading by a clear margin.
World politicsIt has been described as a fateful choice between a future path towards the west or increased Russian influence. When almost all votes have been counted in Moldova's parliamentary election, the pro-European PAS is on an unexpectedly strong own majority, 55 of 101 seats. The people have chosen "democracy, reforms and a European future", writes EU Council President António Costa.
World politicsFears of problems on the important election day in Moldova have not been confirmed at the places that the Swedish election observer Linnéa Wickman has visited. There is a general vigilance. It is a tense day and a lot at stake, says Wickman who represents the European security organization OSSE.
World politicsRussia and Belarus will conduct a joint military exercise in September, representatives of the two neighboring countries announced on Thursday.
ConflictsRussia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in Malta for a meeting with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It is the Foreign Minister's first visit to the EU since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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