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Observers from the European Union monitor the election process inside a polling station during the first round of the presidential election, in La Marsa, outside Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday Sept. 15, 2019. Tunisia is holding a cacophonous presidential election this weekend, with voters choosing among 26 candidates for a new leader who can secure the North African nation's young democracy and tackle unemployment, corruption and the economic despair in its provinces. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
“The European Union (EU) decided to send an electoral observation mission to Venezuela in response to an invitation, and in no way does it intend to interfere in the process,” a spokesperson for the institution told AFP on Monday, October 11. “Non-interference in electoral processes is the heart of our missions.”
This position, added the spokesperson, is also “embodied” in the agreement signed between the EU and the Venezuelan authorities. The spokesperson made the statements on behalf of Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, who did not respond to requests by Venezuelan authorities to account for his interventionist comments on Venezuela’s electoral process—a violation of the agreement signed with Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE).
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“Josep Borrell violated the agreement he signed with the National Electoral Council (CNE) to participate as international observers in the regional elections of November 21,” said the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, this Sunday.
The head of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE), Pedro Calzadilla, had told journalists that the EU and the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, owed an explanation for the statements he made in Spain, described by Venezuelan authorities as interventionist.
“Borrell not only said that this mission was coming to support a political faction of those who have a stake in [the elections of] Venezuela,” said Calzadilla, “but that the legitimacy of the elections depended on the report they issue.”
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“The EU decided to send this mission in response to an invitation” from the Venezuelan CNE, said the spokesperson in Brussels, and “all EU electoral observation missions fully respect the principles of impartiality, objectivity and independence.”
The mission prepared by the EU “aims to evaluate independently, neutrally, and impartially to what extent the electoral process respects the international, regional, and national obligations and commitments regarding the conduct of democratic elections signed by Venezuela.”
Venezuela will hold regional and municipal elections on November 21 to elect mayors, governors, state legislators, and city councils.
Featured image: Observers from the European Union monitor the election process in a polling station outside Tunis, Tunisia, during the first round of the presidential election on September 15, 2019. (Mosa’ab Elshamy/AP).
(Últimas Noticias) by Odry Farnetano
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
