Brussels, 05/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Union wants to provide more support for the elections taking place throughout the world, European Parliament (EP) President Jerzy Buzek and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton made clear at a meeting of the high level panel on “Election support as a political instrument”, attended by former US president Jimmy Carter. This 6th Annual Follow-up Meeting on the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, which continues until Thursday 6 October, provides the opportunity to underline that election observation is a key instrument in promoting democracy and human rights, say Ashton and Buzek in a joint statement.
Since 2000, the EU has sent observation teams to almost 1,000 elections in 54 countries. Last year, over 800 European observers from all member states took part in these operations. “Our engagement in election support must be a long term one, with recommendations, follow-up and technical support”, said Buzek. Former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark said that attention had to be given to elections and recommendations. Often it is not possible, he said, to follow up on recommendations. He suggested that a more effective solution had to be found.
Buzek noted the importance of being active in countries which are working towards democracy, but there should be no attempt at interference: “we observe elections only when we are invited and we do not want to change this practice. We do not want to impose any model of governance or any way of organising elections and we do not go there to teach a lesson”, he insisted. He said that no request for observation had been received from Russia for its forthcoming presidential and general elections, or from Belarus. The various speakers stressed the importance of coordinating operations among the various organisations. Though much remains to be done, “the development of cooperation has been a remarkable contribution to human rights and to democracy”, stated former president Carter. (CG/transl.rt)