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afrol.com, 6 February - After the Togolese government on Friday had demanded help from the European Union (EU) to organise its October election, the Swedish presidency of the EU today approved of such an aid. The holding of the election has been welcomed by the EU, which has been critical to the state of democracy in Togo. According to a EU statement, "the European Union is content with the announcement of a timetable for the organisation of legislative elections, set to 14 and 28 October 2001. The European Union considers that these elections are vital to the tranquillisation of the political climate in Togo." European Union relations with Togo have been tense over the failure to democratise the country and gross human rights violations in the country. The press statement also acknowledges the importance of a free election process to the Togo-EU relationship: "This announcement marks the first steps towards a normalisation of the relations with Togo." Financial cooperation has been on ice since 1993. The EU aid to the organisation of the Togolese election in such will be one of the first cooperation projects in these eight years. The October legislative elections have been announced in Togo as "a first step in a process of democratisation in Togo." The EU had earlier offered help to organise elections in Togo, thus making the application for this aid pro-forma. EU President Romani Prodi immediately welcomed the measure when it was known on Friday that Togo had applied for support.
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