EU says Gabon elections marred by irregularities

Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, insisted on Thursday on the difference between the coups in Niger and Gabon, declaring that the elections in Gabon were marred by irregularities.

“Naturally, military coups are not the solution but we must not forget that in Gabon there were elections full of irregularities,” he stressed, affirming that a rigged election could be interpreted as an “institutional coup d’état”.

He also clarified that no evacuation of European citizens residing in Gabon was planned, insisting that the situation was “calm”.

“We do not see any risk of violence,” he stressed from Toledo, Spain, on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the 27.