Stefan Füle: EU observers will monitor presidential election in Azerbaijan

Stefan Füle, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, urged the leadership of Azerbaijan to ensure that the presidential election upcoming this October are held in accordance with the country's commitments before the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the Council of Europe.

"We would like the elections to be transparent, free and fair, in accordance with the international commitments of Azerbaijan. Moreover, this applies not only to the election and vote tabulation, but the election campaign as a whole," said Stefan Füle at the press conference on May 3 in Baku at the end of his two-day visit to Azerbaijan.

At the same time, he noted lack of any progress in implementing the recommendations of the ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) of the OSCE made on the monitoring results of the parliamentary elections on November 7, 2010.

On May 3, Mr Füle also met oppositional leaders – the leader of the EL Eldar Namazov, the head of the "Musavat" Party Isa Gambar, the chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Ali Kerimli, the head of the "Umid" (Hope) Party Igbal Agazade and the chairman of the Liberal Party Avaz Temirkhan.

According to Isa Gambar, the three-hour-long meeting was an "interesting and open dialogue."

The meeting focused on human rights issues, Rasul Djafarov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.