The EU has been following electoral process in Georgia closely, including the results of the preliminary official vote count, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn said in a joint statement on Sunday.

“For the second round of the elections [for majoritarian MPs in single-mandate constituencies] and in the period before this, all parties and candidates should refrain from confrontation and violence and respect democratic principles and the will of the Georgian people,” reads the statement.

“The European Union is committed to a stable, democratic and prosperous future of Georgia. 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. It will be important that all representatives elected to the new Parliament work together in the interest of Georgia,” Mogherini and Hahn said.

Citing preliminary conclusions of the OSCE/ODIHR international election observation mission’s preliminary conclusions, the EU statement notes that “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. 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 said.