DEMOCRACY SUPPORT AND ELECTION COORDINATION GROUP - THE CO-CHAIRPERSONS -

Mr Syed Kamall, MEP Mr , MEP Co-Chairs Group of European and Conservative Reformists

EXPO-D-DEAC D (2018) 14832

Dear Co-Chairs, Dear colleagues,

The media in Azerbaijan has reported extensively the comments made by Members of the ECR Group of the European Parliament, namely Mr Ryszard Czarnecki, Mr David Campbell Bannerman and Mr Kosma Złotowski, in their capacity as international observers of the early presidential elections in the country on 11 April. Their presence in Azerbaijan during this electoral process and subsequent public comments have, to put it mildly, come as a great surprise to us.

The Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) took a clear and unanimous decision against sending an official European Parliament delegation to observe these elections, given the worsening democratic environment in the country. The opposition boycotted the elections in view of the absence of genuine competition between candidates. This fear proved to be absolutely justified, as indicated by the OSCE-ODIHR mission in its preliminary findings presented on 12 April 2018.

A statement was released confirming that the European Parliament would not be sending a delegation and that none of its Members had been mandated to observe or comment on the process on its behalf. Members of your Group were aware of this statement, aimed at preventing probable abuses by local media of comments by privately invited international observers. Through your Political Group, Members were warned that their participation in such “fake” observation missions would lead to their exclusion from official EP election observation missions. As has already been the case in several countries and in Azerbaijan during the presidential elections in 2013 and the constitutional referendum in 2016, the State- controlled media have a clear tendency to intentionally create uncertainty about the mandate of privately invited international observers, leading their audiences to believe that they are representing our institution.

These concerns have, once more, been validated. They undermine the integrity of the European Parliament and greatly damage its credibility as a highly respected actor in the field of election observation. While acknowledging the right of any political group to send a delegation to third countries during elections, we consider the act of sending “observers” to countries in which the EP explicitly stated it would not observe, is extremely detrimental to the image of the European Parliament. It goes without saying that the effusive remarks by the aforementioned Members of your Group on the management and running of these elections are blatantly contradicted by the preliminary findings of the OSCE-ODIHR mission composed of internationally recognised experienced, professional and independent experts and observers who have been present on the ground throughout the country and the entire electoral campaign and who follow a rigorous methodology, tested many times over the last decade.

In line with the Code of Conduct and criteria for the appointment of Members in EP election observation delegations, as adopted by the DEG and sent to you on 02 October 2017, we are writing to inform you that Mr Ryszard Czarnecki, Mr David Campbell Bannerman and Mr Kosma Złotowski will no longer be allowed to take part in any further official European Parliament election observation delegations for the remainder of this mandate. This decision is with immediate effect. Furthermore, and taking into consideration his previous actions and comments (notably in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in 2016, and in Armenia in 2017), we would ask you to consider whether it is still appropriate and beneficial to the interests and image of your Group that Mr Ryszard Czarnecki continues to represent the European and Conservative Reformists in the DEG.

Yours sincerely,

David McAllister Linda McAvan

cc: Mr Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament Mr , Chair, EPP Mr , Chair, S&D Mr Guy Verhofstadt, Chair, ALDE Ms Ska Keller, Co-Chair, Greens/EFA Mr Philippe Lamberts, Co-Chair, Greens/EFA Ms Gabriele Zimmer, Chair, GUE/NGL Mr Nigel Farage, Chair, EFDD Mr Nicolas Bay, Co-Chair, ENF Mr Marcel de Graaff, Co-Chair, ENF

Mr Ryszard Czarnecki, MEP Mr David Campbell Bannerman, MEP Mr Kosma Złotowski, MEP