Brazil scraps invite for EU to observe elections
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro waves to people during the celebration for the 198th anniversary of the country’s Independence Day in Brasilia, Brazil,
Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) has withdrawn an invitation for the European Union to send observers for the October election after President Jair Bolsonaro’s government objected, the EU and the election body confirmed on Tuesday.
The TSE, Brazil’s top election authority, told Reuters in April 2022 that it had invited the European Union for the first time to observe 2022’s general election, when Bolsonaro will seek reelection.
Two days later the foreign ministry objected, saying Brazil has never had its elections “evaluated” by an organization of which it is not a member.
The TSE said in a statement it found that “the necessary conditions were not present to enable a comprehensive electoral observation mission” after preliminary talks with EU officials.
Bolsonaro has questioned the validity of Brazil’s electronic voting system and made baseless allegations of fraud in the 2018 race, stirring concerns that he may not accept the results of the October election.
The EU said it had received an invitation letter from the TSE in March to send a team to explore the “usefulness, advisability and feasibility” of having an observation mission for the first time in Brazil for the elections.
The electoral authority said the invitations were still being negotiated.
“However, the TSE has since advised us that they will not pursue their request from March, due to reservations expressed by the Brazilian government,” Peter Stano, spokesman for foreign affairs for the European Commission, said.
“Under these circumstances, we will not send an exploratory mission to Brazil to assess a possible EU observer mission,” Stano added.
