Brussels, 23/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - An EU team will be in Algiers at the end of January for discussions with the Algerian administration on sending observers to the forthcoming general election in spring of this year, Laura Baeza, the head of the European Delegation in Algiers, announced at a conference-debate at the national journalism and information science college, ENSJSI, on Thursday of last week.
Baeza is reported by the local media as stressing that the visit had been arranged in consultation with the country's authorities. The EU had, according to its ambassador, received “an official request from the Algerian government to send European observers to the general election”. The team will draft a report prior to the signing of a memorandum of understanding setting out the conditions under which the observers will operate, it is believed.
Baeza also raised the thorny issue of access by Algerian nationals in Europe. She spoke of the “partnership for mobility” which the EU is seeking to establish with European Neighbourhood Policy partner countries, with the aim of strengthening cooperation in immigration. This partnership hopes, inter alia, to “facilitate procedures for granting visas for certain categories of persons, such as students, researchers and business people”, the daily al-Watan says. (FB/transl.rt)