KABUL: (MEP) -A delegation from the European Union Commission arrived in Afghanistan this week to meet with Afghan officials and assess conditions related to the upcoming elections, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. This Commission representative were said to be most interested in the situations facing four provinces, including Balkh, Herat, Nangarhar and Kandahar. However, they will first meet with members of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) before going any further. “The EU Commission is planning to meet with the IEC to clarify the number of observers, what provinces they will visit and how they will visit,” said Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, head of the IEC’s Secretariat. The EU delegation, though looking at pre-election conditions during this trip, joins a growing contingency of international observers organizing plans to document Afghanistan’s historic Presidential and Provincial Council elections in April. As the NATO coalition prepares to withdraw by the end of the year, much of the international community recognizes the pivotal nature of this year’s elections and has expressed the desire to be involved, albeit in a more withdrawn role than in past Afghan elections. “The visit of this Commission is important to the government of Afghanistan and we welcome it, but this must happen in close coordination with the government of Afghanistan,” said Janan Mosazai, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This year being the first electoral process completely overseen by Afghans, financial and technical assistance from the international community has been more sparing than in past years. Nevertheless, hundreds of foreign election observers are expected to participate and coalition forces may end up providing additional security support. “Our conversations and cooperation have been good and constructive so far,” Mosazai said. “We hope that the experience of last elections will not be repeated again.” The 2009 Presidential election was marred by widespread, well-documented cases of fraud and other malfeasances that undermined the credibility of the result. Many fear the same could happen this year, but being the year NATO withdraws and Karzai steps down, an illegitimate election could prove all the more damaging. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has said observers are in important part of ensuring transparent elections, and has said that besides EU, there are other Asian institutions that have shown interest in observing the elections. The Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) has also affirmed the importance of having widespread national and international observers present in April. “For now, this Commission is here to study the conditions and decide whether an observation mission will be sent,” said Nader Naderi, head of FEFA. “We have met with them, what we think is that we need more observers – national and international – to be present in the elections, because we need more transparent elections.” The IEC has so far issued observer authorization letters to 126 institutions, including three international institutions. This number is expected to increase with the release of the final list of voting centers that will be operational on Election Day.