Azerbaijan: Statement by the Spokesperson on early parliamentary elections

Early parliamentary elections took place in the Republic of Azerbaijan on 1 September.

According to the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, the election took place within a restrictive political and legal environment that did not enable genuine pluralism and resulted in a contest devoid of competition. Despite a voting process that was orderly and assessed to be overall efficiently run, serious irregularities and omissions of important safeguards were observed, particularly in the vote count, raising questions about the integrity of the process. The OSCE/ODIHR mission further noted that the elections took place against the background of continued repression of dissenting voices.

The European Union calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to take on board and implement the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations in relation to these and previous elections. The EU stands ready to assist in this process.