On Tuesday March 13, 2018 an international working group composed of Kosovo and Czech specialists for financing political parties met again in Pristina. Following the success of the pilot monitoring of pre-election campaigns for early and municipal elections in 2017, when the election budget information of major political parties were - for the first time in the history of the country - published, the expert group consisting of Florent Spahiji, Albert Krasniqi, Arben Kelmendi and Ondrej Cakl focus on creating application standards. It is a set of simple rules and practical tools legitimized by the interest of Kosovo civil society and the practical experience of both organizations. The set of standards for political parties will make it easier for them to transparently finance their pre-election activities and, last but not least, to meet legal standards.

This corresponded to the KDI/TI Kosovo round table program and the follow-up seminar for NGO representatives in the Orion building in Pristina. Standards will not be an expert venture of several specialists, but rather a result of widespread dialogues with representatives of non-governmental organizations (Democracy in Action, D4D, Mundesia) and, of course, political parties themselves and CECs. In this sense, the March 2018 visit was really the first step. The group plans to have another working meeting, this time in Prague in April 2018. In the autumn 2018, a forum with representatives of political parties will take place in Pristina.

The fact that the experience and expertise of Czech experts in the non-governmental sphere can be prominently benefited by the civil society and political representation of Kosovo is very pleasing and contributes to the positive image of the Czech Republic abroad. The event was supported by the Transition Promotion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic under the project called Set Up Standards for Transparent Pre-election campaigns in Kosovo 2018.

More at https://www.transparency.cz/sestra