08/12/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 7 December, the European Union welcomed the smooth conduct of the 4 December presidential elections in the Gambia, for which it had deployed an EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) for the first time. The incumbent president, Adama Barrow, has been declared the winner. In a statement issued by the European External Action Service, the EU welcomes “the calm, peaceful and transparent manner in which the elections were conducted”. It adds: “The high voter turnout shows the commitment of the Gambian people to the democratic path that they have taken since December 2016”. The statement is based on the preliminary statement of the EU-EOM which “shows where reforms are needed”. Pending the mission’s findings, the EU urges all candidates to “comply with the rule of law”. See the preliminary statement of the EU-EOM: https://bit.ly/3dwmwwB (AN)