Some of these short-term observers (STOs) will join the long-term observers (34 people) who have already been in the country for several weeks. Their work will be to monitor the legislative and inter-party elections.

From now on they will be in more than 30 different points of the national territory. Everything these observers see and witness during the election day will be reported to the EU EOM Central Team in Bogota and will be part of the inputs of the preliminary statement the Mission will publish two days after the elections.

During the first two days in Colombia, the STOs were trained on Colombia's political panorama, its electoral system, the legal framework, media participation in the elections, the country's security conditions, and other topics that will guide them to carry out their work in an independent and impartial manner.

It should be noted that many of these observers have experience in electoral observation in several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

This group of observers will be joined in the coming days by a delegation of Euro-parliamentarians and another group of local short-term observers. In total, by Sunday there will be more than 120 people observing the elections first hand.

This STO group will remain in Colombia until March 16. Afterwards, in May, it will return to observe the presidential elections.