Brussels, July 13 (IANS) The European Union (EU) will send a 100-member team to Afghanistan to monitor the presidential and provincial council elections scheduled to take place Aug 20, according to a statement Monday.
The EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) include the 17 core team experts who are already in Afghanistan and will be joined in due course by other observers, EuAsiaNews reported, citing a statement by the European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-member grouping.

The observers mission will assess the election campaign period and pre-election preparations across the country, the voting, counting and the tabulation of results, the statement said.

The mission will be led by Philippe Morillon, French Member of the European Parliament.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Commissioner for External Relations, said in the statement that the upcoming elections “are an important milestone for the very young democratic structures in Afghanistan since they will be the first led by the Afghan themselves”.

“This EOM is yet another clear signal of support to Afghanistan in its path towards stability and democracy,” she added.

The EU is one of major donors of the war-ravaged country with a total assistance of 1.6 billion euro, including 247 million euro in humanitarian assistance, since 2002, the statement added.