EU to send observer mission to historic Zimbabwe election

JOHANNESBURG – The European Union says it will send observers to Zimbabwe’s upcoming elections after an invitation from the country’s new President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The EU statement on Friday comes after its foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini met with Zimbabwe’s foreign minister in Brussels.

Zimbabwe faces a historic election after the dramatic departure of longtime leader Robert Mugabe in November under military and public pressure. Mugabe had led the country since independence in 1980 and shunned foreign election observers.

Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe deputy, has repeatedly pledged to hold free and fair elections as he tries to bring back foreign investment to the once-prosperous southern African nation after years of sanctions.

Zimbabwe earlier this month announced it had invited the United States and the EU to observe the elections expected in July.