The European Union has canceled its election observation mission for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s December 20 general elections.
Their election observers who had arrived in the DRC on Tuesday were unable to deploy people across the country for security reasons.
European Union diplomatic service spokeswoman Nabila Massrali in a statement released on Wednesday said “Due to technical constraints beyond the control of the EU, we are forced to cancel the EU election observation mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).”
“The EU encourages the DRC authorities and all stakeholders to continue their efforts to ensure that the Congolese people can fully exercise their legitimate political and civil rights in the forthcoming elections,” she added.
The spokeswoman also said that “the EU is examining other options with the Congolese authorities, including the possibility of maintaining a mission of electoral experts to observe the electoral process from the capital”.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is due to hold legislative and presidential elections on December 20th, in which incumbent President Félix Tshisekedi, 60, is seeking a second term.