The EU mission released a 41-page report today in which it stated that the May 2010 elections in Ethiopia did not meet international standards. The report is an impeachment of the Meles regime as illegitimate that has no mandate to govern. Members of the mission were denied visa by Meles to enter Ethiopia this week where they had planned to present report. Read the report below:
The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) was present in Ethiopia from 14 April to 21 June 2010, following invitations from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE). The EU EOM was led by Mr. Thijs Berman, Member of the European Parliament. The Mission deployed 170 observers from 25 European Union Member States, as well as Norway, Switzerland and Canada to all the country’s regions to assess the electoral process against international and regional commitments for elections as well as the laws of Ethiopia. The EU EOM is independent in its findings and conclusions and adheres to the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation commemorated at the United Nations in October 2005. On Election Day, EU EOM observers visited 815 polling stations in every region of Ethiopia to observe voting and counting… [read the full text here]