It's Malin Björk, the head of the Electoral Observation Mission of this European organization, who announced it on November 21 last year, in Kinshasa, during a press briefing. The goal of this observation mission is to contribute to the holding of inclusive, free, transparent, and peaceful elections, Malin Björk made known, while indicating that members of the mission will come from 24 of the 27 EU countries and will benefit from the support of Switzerland, Norway, and Canada.

In the same vein, the head of the EU observer mission called for the respect of freedom of speech and assembly during this campaign period. "We call for the respect of the freedoms of expression and assembly, as well as the rejection of violence and hate speech", she declared.

She also specified that the European Union is fully committed to a process of supporting the consolidation of democracy in the DRC. "Our mission has a mandate to perform an impartial, independent, and in-depth long-term evaluation of the electoral process in light of the national legal framework, international and regional standards to which the DRC has adhered for democratic elections. The EU observers are obliged to remain impartial and to respect the EU observer's code of conduct and the laws of the country", she made known.

Malin Björk emphasized that the mission's observations will be presented at a press conference in Kinshasa, two days before the vote takes place and will stay pressing in the DRC until January 9, 2024.

Furthermore, this EU electoral observation mission encourages the Congolese authorities to release the funds that will allow the CENI to finish preparing the polls of December 20, 2023.

Gisèle Mbuyi