24/07/2023 (Agence Europe) – The European Union has expressed its “deep concern” about attempts to undermine the second round of the presidential elections in Guatemala on Sunday 20 August, which will pit two Social Democrat candidates, Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arévalo, against each other (see EUROPE 13185/31). In a press release published on Friday 21 July, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) specifically mentions the arrest warrants issued for several political figures and the searches carried out at the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Any attempt to overturn the results of the first round of the elections will “inevitably have an impact” on EU/Guatemala bilateral relations, he warned. On Sunday, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court guaranteed that the second round of the presidential election would go ahead. In May, the EU sent an election observation mission to Guatemala led by Jordi Cañas (Renew Europe, Spanish). (MB)