To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to long-term observation missions to monitor elections in (a) Burundi, and (b) Rwanda, in 2010. [HL2050]

The elections this year in both Burundi and Rwanda remain a top priority for the UK. In both countries, peaceful elections will mark an important step in institutionalising the democratic process. The presence of international observer missions, both from the region and further afield (such as the EU and Commonwealth) constitute an important part of this process.

As a member state, the UK discusses the issue regularly with the European Commission. While the European Commission seeks the views of member states on a proposed priority list of countries for EU Election Observer Missions (EOM), it ultimately falls to the European Commission themselves to decide where these will be deployed. Similarly, the terms and resourcing for any EU EOM are also ultimately a decision for the European Commission.

The UK welcomes the declaration by Commonwealth Secretary-General Sharma that a Commonwealth Election Observer Mission will go to Rwanda for the elections, due to be held in August.