Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-07-Speech-3-151"
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"en.20080507.15.3-151"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the fact that elections are observed by recognised institutions improves the election atmosphere and sometimes even helps to crystallise significant changes, as happened, for example, during the Orange Revolution in Kiev. Observation is obviously a costly undertaking, but one that is justified, since on the one hand it teaches democracy, and on the other hand it helps us to appreciate the political awareness and soul of a given nation.
I have a few suggestions on how missions can be made effective without undue cost. Firstly, we should send people who know the local language. If this is not feasible, the group of observers could be put together in such a way that a single language (French or English) is used, into which translations are made, and which in turn means taking along interpreters to translate into that particular language.
As far as possible, it would be worth recruiting volunteers from other countries, such as students or members of non-governmental and student organisations. Why? The more observers there are, the better things will go. Even though we sometimes hear ironic comments, in Africa for example, that they do not need any more colonists, it turns out that contact and interaction with electors leads to their recognition of the mission and, at the same time, of that form of democratic support.
Where human rights are concerned, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats are for our part taking steps to ensure that people living in particularly vulnerable areas of the globe are aware of their rights and are able to fight for them. Constant education is needed for this. There is no other way out. I shall finish by saying that without fundamental human values and rights, democracy may be a defective solution, if not a caricature of how to govern."@en1
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