The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has signaled resistance to the proposal to monitor the October 2022 presidential elections by the European Union.

The Supreme Electoral Court sent a letter to Brussels, extending the invitation of international organizations to participate in monitoring the election process at the end of the year. The EU has yet to make a decision on whether Brazil will comply with its request and has merely stated that consultations with all governments of the bloc are required.

In May, a European delegation could visit Brazil to examine whether such a proposal could be implemented.

The debate comes at a time when President Jair Bolsonaro is questioning the security of elections in the country; This is a gesture interpreted by international observers as a threat not to respect the election results.

Itamaraty made it clear this Wednesday that it is working in coordination with TSE. However, he said, “Concerning a final invitation to the European Union mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds us that there is no evaluation by an international organization of which Brazil is not part of its tradition.”

“It should be noted that the European Union, unlike, for example, the OAS and the OSCE, does not send electoral delegations to its member states,” the Foreign Ministry said.

However, Itamaraty acknowledges that other collaboration processes are already underway. “Among the tasks, we highlight invitations to the Organization of American States (OAS) such as the 2018 and 2020 elections, and preliminary agreements with the Commonwealth of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) and specialist organizations. The Carter Center and the Association of Inter-American Electoral Organizations (Uniore) ) like,” he said.

The memo between Itamaraty and TSE states that in 2022 the “dialogue addressed the organization of ballot box committees for approximately 600,000 registered voters abroad, as well as the sending of observation missions for general elections”.

But the Brazilian election has already become the target of international concerns. Last week, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the UN’s rapporteur on the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of association, urged authorities to provide safe spaces for civil society and expressed concern about restrictions on Brazilians’ right to full and active participation. .

But one of the rapporteur’s most important warnings refers to political violence against social leaders, candidates and elected political leaders, particularly Afro-ancestry and transgender women. According to him, this poses a serious threat to political participation and democracy.

Regarding the 2022 elections, he said the state should ensure that all electoral processes are free from discrimination, disinformation, fake news and hate speech. “I ask the state to protect candidates and candidates from any form of threat or attack, online and offline,” he said.

For the Brazilian Committee of Human Rights Defenders, the rapporteur’s visit last week was significant. “Thus, the United Nations can be even more vigilant in 2022 by cooperating to ensure that the electoral process in the country in 2022 takes place in a free, democratic and informed manner, with the guarantee of strong political and social participation of the people. The Brazilian population,” said the entity. In a letter to the rapporteur, the same message is signed by organizations such as Amnesty International and Ecumenical Service Coordination.