Shortage of EU observers for Afghan vote, warns Bildt

(STOCKHOLM) - The EU will be unable to get its election observers to Afghanistan on time for the second round presidential vote, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt warned on Wednesday.

"To mobilise a large contingent in a short time will not be possible. Moreover, the safety situation, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country is obviously troublesome," Bildt told Swedish public radio.

Bildt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year, underlined that it took time to build election monitoring teams.

"It has to do with the observers' safety and with recruiting people who often have other things to do with their lives," he said.

When asked if fewer EU observers would monitor the November 7 run-off than the contested August 20 first round vote, he replied: "This is such short notice that I do not want to exclude it will be so, unfortunately."

An inquiry by a UN-backed watchdog this week confirmed high levels of fraud in the Afghan presidential elections, most of it in favour of incumbent president Hamid Karzai. It declared more than one million ballots suspect -- almost a quarter of the total cast.

Bildt's comments echoed those made by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who warned earlier this week the run-off presented "huge challenges."

Ban said the United Nations would replace more than 200 monitors implicated in fraud during the first round.