EU says its DR Congo election observers can't deploy
The EU said Tuesday that a team of election observers sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of December 20 polls cannot spread out around the country because of "security reasons".
The team of around 40 is "currently unable to deploy throughout the country due to security reasons. This is rendering the necessary long-term observation impossible," an EU spokesperson told AFP.
"The EU is currently considering the available options and is in touch with DRC authorities," the spokesman said.
The DRC, an impoverished central African nation of about 100 million people, is in the grip of unrest, with dozens of armed groups active in its east, where UN peacekeepers and East African Community troops are deployed.
Campaigning for the parliamentary and presidential elections kicked off on November 19.
Incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi, 60, is running for re-election.
One of his challengers is Denis Mukwege, a Nobel prize-winning gynaecologist who started a hospital and foundation in the conflict-torn east.
The EU's top foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, on December 6 announced the EU's first electoral observer mission to the country in over a decade.
He said "the next months will be crucial for democratic consolidation in the DRC and bilateral DRC-EU cooperation."
