EU on Elections 2016:“Competitive, well-administered, fundamental freedoms were generally respected.”

Two European Union (EU) top officials say the 2016 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia were "competitive, well-administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected”.

High representative and Vice President of the EU Federica Mogherini, and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn released a joint statement this evening assessing Georgia’s vote on October 8.

According to the preliminary conclusions of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation mission, the elections were competitive, well-administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected. The calm and open campaign atmosphere was, however, impacted by allegations of unlawful campaigning and some incidents of violence,” read the EU leaders' statement.

"Election Day generally proceeded in an orderly manner, but tensions increased during the day and several violent altercations took place near and in polling stations. However, voting was assessed positively in almost all polling stations. Any remaining shortcomings should be addressed based on OSCE/ODIHR recommendations.”

Mogherini and Hahn called on all political parties to "refrain from confrontation and violence and respect democratic principles and the will of the Georgian people.”

"Once the electoral process has been completed, we look forward to working with the democratically elected new Parliament and Government to deepen our political and economic relations based on the joint commitments of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement,” read the official statement of EU high representatives.