On Friday 30 March, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini announced that the EU would deploy an election observation mission (EOM) to Lebanon for the parliamentary elections due to take place on 6 May 2018.
Mogherini has appointed Elena Valenciano MEP (S&D, Spain) as chief observer of the EOM. The core team, consisting of nine analysts, arrived in Beirut on 27 March and will stay in the country until the completion of the electoral process. Twenty-four long-term observers will now be deployed across the country. A further 36 short-term observers will be deployed in Lebanon at the beginning of May after having observed the vote of the Lebanese people living abroad (27 and 29 April).
The elections of 6 May, "the first in almost a decade and with an increased number of female candidates, will be key for the future of Lebanon", Mogherini stated in a press release. "A newly elected parliament will steer the many reforms that the country is about to undertake", she added (see EUROPE 11990).
The EU has already observed elections in Lebanon in 2005 and 2009. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)