Presidential election, 5 February 2023

Following an official invitation from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cyprus to the OSCE to observe the 5 February 2023 presidential election and in accordance with its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Nicosia from 29 November to 1 December 2022. The ODIHR NАМ included Vladimir Misev, Senior Adviser on New Voting Technologies, and Kseniya Dashutsina, ODIHR Election Adviser.

The purpose of the mission was to assess the pre-election environment and the preparations for the presidential election. Based on this assessment, the NAM should recommend whether to deploy an ODIHR election-related activity for the forthcoming election, and if so, what type of activity best meets the identified needs. Meetings were held with officials from state institutions, as well as with representatives of political parties, media and civil society. A list of meetings is annexed to this report.