On Thursday, the Deputy PM for European Affairs, Bujar Osmani, paid a visit to the State Election Commission (SEC). As he and SEC President Oliver Derkoski assessed, the presidential elections should be fair and democratic, without even the smallest of remarks. They added that the election process should be a competition in which the best candidate would win, something which would show the country’s capacity and maturity. According to Osmani and Derkoski, the decision of the Commission and EU members on a start of membership negotiations will depend greatly on that. “The country is under the microscope of member-states and of the Commission in terms of whether it has democratic capacities to administer fair elections,” the Deputy PM stated.