CAIRO
The Egyptian authorities have released all equipment sent by the European Union (EU) to facilitate the work of the body's observer mission that would follow up the country's presidential polls, due on May 26-27.
The Egyptian government has "removed all technical and administrative obstacles that might hinder the participation of the European Union in following up the presidential elections," a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Ati said Sunday.
"All equipment of the E.U. mission were released," he added.
The announcement came one day after the European bloc said it would not send observers to Egypt for the polls, citing lack of certain conditions that it deems necessary to oversee the process.
A spokesman for E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the bloc had already begun to deploy the mission in Egypt. "Despite our best efforts, these requirements have not been met and the timely deployment …is no longer possible," the spokesman said in a statement.
Abdel-Ati said that head of the E.U. observer mission Mario David would hold a press conference in Cairo on Monday to unveil details of the mission's participation.
Egypt's electoral commission has recently approved a number of foreign monitoring delegations, including one from the African Union, to take part in monitoring the poll.
Former army chief Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi – who led the army to overthrow elected president Mohamed Morsi last July – and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi who came third in the 2012 elections won by Morsi will be vying in the election.
Egypt completed the first phase of an army-imposed transitional roadmap in January by holding a referendum on an amended version of its 2012 constitution.
The presidential elections will constitute the second milestone of the roadmap that should be completed with parliamentary polls later this year.
By Mohamed Wali
englishnews@aa.com.tr
