A European Union monitoring mission was in Cambodia this week to assess the country's compliance with the human rights obligations that lie at the core of the EU-Cambodia preferential trade deal.
The timing could not be more appropriate.
With national elections approaching on July 29, Cambodia is hurtling towards a one-party state under prime minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).
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Matthew is EUobserver's Opinion Editor. He joined EUobserver in June 2018. Previously he worked as a reporter for The Guardian in London, and as editor for AFP in Paris and DPA in Berlin.