February 25, 2007
EU confirms Venezuela presidential vote was fair

(Press TV Iran) - "EU vote monitoring mission has confirmed that December presidential elections in Venezuela were executed in a fair manner, reports Venezuela's Telesur TV.

Monica Frassoni, the Italian lawmaker who headed the EU mission, told a news conference that the elections were carried out in keeping with the domestic laws and international standards.

The mission's confirmatory report comes despite U.S. allegations of rights violations in Venezuela . The U.S. administration branded the elections - won by staunch U.S. critic Hugo Chávez - as illegal.

Frassoni affirmed that all electoral procedures were in complete accordance with the international law and Venezuelan constitution, a point which compelled the EU mission to verify the election results.

The head of the European mission also voiced her support for civil efforts launched by Venezuela 's National Election Council and all other political parties and trends to lay the groundwork for a legal and competent election.

The mission said its main concern during the elections was the state of competition between the pro-government official media and pro-opposition private ones".