Azernews.Az

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament have released a joint statement on the results of their monitoring of the October 9 presidential election in Azerbaijan, AzerTag state news agency reported.

"As the Heads of Delegation, we would first of all like to congratulate the people of Azerbaijan on their peaceful campaign and election day," the statement says.

"Overall, around election day we have observed a free, fair and transparent electoral process. The will of the authorities of Azerbaijan to have a large presence of national and international observers for the 2013 presidential election is commendable."

The statement says further that according to the observations, electoral procedures on the eve and on election day were carried out professionally and peacefully.

"We were pleased to see the sound technical preparations and the investment made by the Azeri authorities for this election," it said.

"On election day we did not witness any evidence of intimidation against voters, in or close to polling stations. There was no presence of police around polling stations in compliance with the electoral law. We have not seen any signs of campaign material close to polling stations," the statement said.

"The European Parliament stands ready to keep working closely with the Parliament of Azerbaijan to enhance EU-Azerbaijan relations, both bilaterally and in the context of the Eastern Partnership," it said.