European Parliament will not observe presidential elections in Azerbaijan

Baku/07.03.18/Turan: The co-chairs of the EP"s Democracy support and election coordination group MEPs McAllister and McAvan made the following statement on the forthcoming elections in Russia and Azerbaijan.

"Presidential elections will take place in Russia on 18 March and in Azerbaijan on 11 April 2018.

The European Parliament will not observe this electoral process and consequently will neither comment on the process nor on the results that will be announced afterwards. No individual Member of the European Parliament has been mandated to observe or comment on this electoral process on its behalf.

Therefore, should any Member of the European Parliament decide to observe these elections, she/he would do so on her/his own initiative and should under no circumstances commit the European Parliament through any statement or action.

The offer by official Russian organisations to cover the expenses of travel and accommodation of some international observers goes against the fundamental ethics of election observation.

As regards Azerbaijan, the European Parliament will adopt its report on the relations between the EU and Azerbaijan during its plenary sitting before the summer recess. Only this report will represent the official position of the European Parliament on the matter."-0-