ИСТИНА

The European Union pays close attention to the monitoring of electoral campaigns and elections themselves in the African countries. The EU often sends its observers to monitor the African elections, by invitation from the respective African governments. The paper will aim to analyze the role of EU election observation missions (EUEOMs) working in African countries, their aims, methods, and consequences which that process may entail for the EU political relations with this or that African country. This commitment of the EU is in line with its declared aim to promote democratic, liberal, Western values on the African continent. The aim is to introduce the good governance in all African countries, to which the democratic, fair, inclusive and transparent elections are seen as a first step and the necessary precondition. The clauses of political conditionality aimed at promoting good governance are included in almost all economic and political agreements between the EU and African countries. The observation of African elections gives the EU first-hand information about the election process, the possibility to approve of the election results or to denounce them, to praise or criticize the organization of elections. The EU election observation missions review the whole election cycle, which starts long before the elections themselves, therefore the mission can last up to 6 months. The EU observers produce their report with their evaluation of the whole election cycle, which gives recommendations on how to improve the electoral system of the country, and they monitor whether the government eventually implemented their recommendations, or not. Some governments may see this as affecting its internal political affairs. Sometimes the African governments express their disappointment with the work of the European election observers and with their conclusions, (the example is Kenyan elections in 2017). The EU is also involved in the mediation of the post-electoral conflicts in Africa, such as the one in Kenya (2007-2012). Mediation efforts are used as a tool for conflict prevention and peace building. Actors such as EU special representatives, EU delegations, ESDP missions, are often involved in mediation efforts (high-level mediation meetings, political assistance, and confidence-building measures). The EU also involves in dialogue processes with the participation of African civil society organizations at the grass-roots level. So, the election observation also reinforces other key EU foreign policy objectives, in particular peace-building in Africa. The EU observation of elections may also be used as the instrument of “legitimization” of the incoming government in the eyes of the Western world, or “international community”. This is the case of Zimbabwe after the resignation of Mugabe. The need for organizing "peaceful, inclusive, transparent, democratic" elections and carrying out political and economic reforms as a condition for expanding partnership with Zimbabwe was stated in the EU Council resolution. The EU is ready to help Zimbabwe restore constructive relations with international financial institutions, based on a clear reform program. The EU plans to send its election observers to Zimbabwe for a preliminary assessment ahead of the country’s harmonised elections, they were invited by the President Mnangagwa in March 2018. Therefore, the EU’s role as an observer of African elections is multilateral, may be evaluated differently and is worth further exploration.