In response to an invitation from the Venezuelan National Electoral Council, the European Union will deploy an observation mission for the regional and municipal elections scheduled for 21 November, for the first time in 15 years.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said in a statement on Wednesday 29 September that an “unprecedented” electoral process is taking place to elect more than 3,000 local representatives, with the concurrence of “the majority of political forces for the first time in recent years”. He assured that the EU mission would conduct an “independent” assessment of all aspects of these elections and would propose “recommendations to improve future elections”. He said the exercise would help Venezuelans find a solution to the political crisis.
Appointed to head the future EU mission, Portuguese socialist Isabel Santos said she was ready to work with all stakeholders - the Maduro regime, the opposition and civil society - to “defend democratic values” in Venezuela.
In 2020, ahead of the parliamentary elections which the EU did not observe, the EU set several criteria for sending an EOM, such as a reform of the National Electoral Council (see EUROPE 12545/8). On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the European External Action Service (EEAS), Nabila Massrali, assured that “in no way” had the EU’s policy towards Caracas changed.
The EU mission will consist of 11 experts who will arrive in Caracas in October and will be joined at the end of October by 62 long-term observers deployed throughout Venezuela. On election day, a team of 54 short-term observers, including 20 locally recruited observers, will be in place.
A cooperation agreement was signed between the Venezuelan National Electoral Council and the EU delegation in the Caribbean country to allow the free movement of the members of the mission and to guarantee freedom of speech for Ms Santos, who is the only one authorised to speak publicly on behalf of the mission.
See this agreement (in Spanish): https://bit.ly/3zSuM2D (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)