EU to send observers for Palestinian polls

The monitors will deploy from mid-December to assess whether the electoral process leading up to the January 25 ballots is conducted in accordance with international standards, said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

"Free and fair elections are essential steps on the way to a viable Palestinian state" as foreseen in the internationally-approved Mideast peace road map, EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday.

She underlined that "impartial observation can help create confidence in the democratic process and highlight areas where further improvements are necessary.

"By working with the Palestinians in this way, the EU is helping to lay the foundations for a modern accountable administration and a more peaceful future for the Palestinian people."

In all the EU commission plans to deploy some 172 observers: a core team of 12 observers, 32 long-term observers, both groups to be deployed in December, and 128 short-term observers, who will arrive closer to the election day.

Palestinians are set to hold a fourth round of local elections in the main West Bank cities on December 15 in what will serve as a final warm-up for the parliamentary polls in January.

Israel has threatened to disrupt the January polls if radical Islamist group Hamas candidates stand, arguing that the 1993 Oslo accords bar any party from elections that does not respect the Jewish state's right to exist.

The EU has given some 17 million euros since since 2003 to prepare the elections, of which 3 million euros covers the election observation mission, the commission noted.

It also recalled that the 25-nation EU, which has long been the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians, gives some 200-300 million euros a year from its collective budget.

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