13/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - EU underlines importance of free and fair elections. On Friday 13 June, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso underlined the importance of free and fair local elections in Georgia on 15 June. “It is important that there is no doubt on the freedom and fairness of the elections”, he said at the end of a press conference with Georgia's President Irakli Garibashvili (our translation). Barroso hoped that these elections would fulfil all the European standards. He also reiterated the importance of political pluralism and of avoiding excessive political polarisation. In early June, members of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly said they were concerned about the number of opposition candidates that had withdrawn their candidacies for the local elections, and about the circumstances for these withdrawals - which reportedly took place under pressure. (CG)