Serbia’s Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) yesterday approved CeSID, has registered 2070 observers in Serbia, including Kosovo, to monitor the May 11 elections.

The Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) will follow the work of RIK working groups and voting committees. The applications of the Russian Communist Party, which registered one observer, and the Democratic Youth Anti-Fascist Movement “NASI”, which registered six observers from the Russian Federation were also approved by RIK.

The observers will be issued accreditation and identification cards by RIK, but the expenses for observing RIK’s activities and the documentation will be borne by the monitoring organizations themselves.

The international Euro-Asian Association also registered observers to follow the elections, but their application was rejected because of problems with the documentation submitted by the group.

RIK has approved a payment of some EUR 15,000 to cover fuel costs for transporting election materials around the country, and a further EUR 23,500 to the Republic Statistical Office to conduct activities related to confirming the voting results at specific polling stations.