EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner on Afghan parliamentary and provincial elections

European Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, issued the following statement on 18 September :

"The first parliamentary elections in over 30 years make this a historic day and a further milestone on the road to peace and stability which Afghanistan has been travelling along since the end of 2001. Although it is still too early for any detailed assessment of the conduct of these elections, I am gratified by initial reports that voting was peaceful and orderly. I congratulate the Afghan people for their courage and enthusiasm on this momentous day, as well as all those responsible for organising the elections in very challenging circumstances. Emma Bonino, MEP, Chief Observer of the European Union's Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) and her team have done an outstanding job. She will issue a statement outlining its preliminary assessment of the election process in Kabul tomorrow at 12.30 GMT. The EU EOM is the largest international observer mission in Afghanistan for these elections, reaching a total strength of 150 people by election day. Observers have been present across the country since 6 August."

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• EU Presidency Declaration on Afghan Parliamentary and Provincial Elections (19/9/2005)
• EUHR Solana welcomes Afghan elections (19/9/2005)
• EU Election Observation Mission now deployed in Afghanistan (26/7/2005)
• EC President Barroso meets Afghan President Karzai on Afghan reconstruction programmes for 2005/2006  (11/5/2005)