afrol News, 11 October - The European Union (EU) is set for mission in Togo from 17 to 19 October this year. The mission is expected to gauge the democratic standards of the country that went into civil strife after its long time president, Gnassingbé Eyadéma died who died two years ago, was succeeded by his son.

The EU mission will discuss with the current head of state, Faure Gnassingbé, and representatives of the political parties that have been taking part in the inter-Togolese dialogue.

"It's a follow-up mission, which seeks to evaluate the implementation of the commitments the Togo had entered into EU," according to the official website of the Togolese government. In the last years, the EU had dispatched several missions to Lomé to follow developments there.

Relations between EU and Togo broke in 1993 when the country was accused of having a "democratic deficit". A democratisation condition was posed by the EU to standardise her relations with Togo. But the Togolese government is now moving fast to repair its democratic credentials, which is the reason why it has been dialoguing with its opposition parties.

The all party dialogue, which started in May 2004, led to a signing of a "total political agreement" between the government and Togolese protagonists, according to government sources. The agreement comprises several crucial points such as the organisation of free, fair and transparent parliamentary elections in the country after the mandate of the current parliament expires in 2007.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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