29/11/23 (Agence Europe) – The European Union announced, on Wednesday 29 November, that it would no longer be able to organise the election observation mission initially planned for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s presidential elections of 20 December (see EUROPE 13286/25). “Due to technical constraints beyond the control of the EU, we are forced to cancel the EU election observation mission”, which had planned to deploy “long-term observers in most provinces of the DRC”, European External Action Service spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said in a statement. Calling on all stakeholders to allow the Congolese people to exercise their democratic rights, she indicated that the EU was exploring “other options” with the Congolese authorities, such as maintaining “a mission of electoral experts to observe the electoral process from the capital”. (MB)