The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on Côte d'Ivoire,

–   having regard to the EU-ACP Cotonou Partnership Agreement signed in June 2000,

–   having regard to the relevant UN Security Council's resolutions on Côte d'Ivoire, particularly Resolution 1893 (2009), Resolution 1933 (2010), Resolution 1946 (2010), Resolution 1951 (2010) and Resolution 1962 (2010),

–   having regard to the statements of HR/VP baroness Catherine Ashton on the electoral process, and ,in particular, those of 3 December 2010 on Côte d'Ivoire election results and of 1 December 2010 on the second round of presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire,

–   having regard to the preliminary conclusions of the election observation missions sent by the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which have concurred in their respective findings that the second round of presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire took place in a free and democratic manner,

–   having regard to both the UN Security Council press release on Côte d'Ivoire's Elections and the statement of the UN Secretary General Ban Kii-Moon of 2 December 2010,

–   having regard to the statement of the Mr. Young Joon Choi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Côte d'Ivoire, of 3 December 2010 on the certification of the results of the second round of the presidential election held on 28 November 2010,

–   having regard to the Declaration of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly adopted on 3 December 2010 in Kinshasa on the announcement of the results of the second round of the presidential election held on 28 November 2010 in Côte d'Ivoire,

–   having regard to the statement of UN Secretary General Ban Kii-Moon of 4 December 2010 expressing concern over the political standoff following presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire despite Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouatara's clear victory in exit polls by a nearly 10-point margin,

–   having regard to the statement of European Commission's President José Manuel Durão Barroso of 4 December 2010 confirming Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouatara as the legitimate winner of the democratic presidential elections,

–   having regard to the communiqué of Mr. Abdou Diouf, Secretary General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie of 5 December 2010, urging all political actors involved to recognize the results of the presidential elections as proclaimed by the Independent Electoral Commission of Côte d'Ivoire (CEI) and certified by the UN,

–   having regard to the Final Communiqué of the ECOWAS summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 7 December 2010,

–   having regard to the decision of the AU to suspend Côte d'Ivoire's membership on 9 December 2010 to pressure the country's former president Laurent Koudou Gbagbo step down,

–   having regard to the international community's united position calling former president Laurent Koudou Gbagbo to resign from office at the earliest opportunity to preserve the prospects of a peaceful transition of power,

–   having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas after more then 10 years, and several postponements, the first round of presidential elections was held in Côte d'Ivoire on 31 October 2010 in accordance with the provisions of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement of 4 mars 2007,

B.  whereas the first round of the presidential elections was characterized by a historic turnout of about 80% of the registered voters and took place generally in a calm and peaceful manner despite subsequent delays in the announcement of the results,

C. whereas the CEI ultimately released the names of incumbent President Laurent Koudou Gbagbo and former Prime Minister Alassane Dramane Ouattara as the main contenders of the second round of the presidential elections to be held on 28 November 2010,

D. whereas the EU's Observation Mission in Côte d'Ivoire concluded in its Preliminary Statement of 30 November 2010 that the electoral campaign for the second round of the elections was stained by violence causing several injuries and deaths among the citizenry,

E.  whereas on the evening of 2 December 2010 the President of the CEI, Mr. Youssouf Bakayoko, declared Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouattara the winner of the second round of elections with 54.1% of the votes cast amidst a climate of generalized tension marked by allegations of electoral fraud stemming from the President-candidate's camp and acts of violence and intimidation directed towards Mr. Ouattara's supporters as well as the European Union's observers in the country,

F.  whereas the UN Security Council welcomed the announcement of provisional results by the Independent Electoral Commission of Côte d'Ivoire and reiterated its readiness to take appropriate measures against those who obstruct the peace process, in particular the work of the CEI, as set out by paragraph 6 of resolution 1946(2010),

G. whereas the head of the Côte d'Ivoire's Constitutional Council, following the release of the elections results by CEI, declared these announced results as null and void and proceeded to proclaim Mr. Gbagbo as winner of the presidential elections, after having cancelled voting results from four northern regions of Côte d'Ivoire where Mr. Ouattara had won by large margins,

H. whereas following the abovementioned decision of the Côte d'Ivoire's Constitutional Council, all the country's borders have been closed, the broadcasting of all foreign information TV channels was suspended, which has not only left Côte d'Ivoire's citizens in total isolation from the rest of the world, but made it also difficult for the international community to monitor possible human rights abuses and breaches of the rule of law in the country,

I.   whereas the UN Secretary General's Special Representative, Mr. Choi, subsequently certified the due process of the Côte d'Ivoire's presidential elections, thus confirming that election results released by the Independent Electoral Commission are accurate and representative of the free will of the Ivorian citizens,

J.   whereas Mr. Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), called upon the authorities of Côte d'Ivoire to dully investigate all acts of violence that occurred before and in the aftermath of the second round of presidential elections, reaffirming therefore the ICC's determination to scrutinize closely all acts of violence reported to it in this regard,

K. whereas despite ongoing protests of the international community Mr. Gbagbo has been sworn in as President during a ceremony organized on 4 December 2010, while Mr. Ouattarra has taken the oath as President of Côte d'Ivoire by a letter sent to the Constitutional Council,

L.  whereas a growing number of political and trade partners of Côte d'Ivoire in Africa and the Western world have expressed their support for Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouattarra, which is being recognized as the legitimate winner of the Côte d'Ivoire's presidential elections and legitimate Head of State brought to power by the will of the Ivorian people,

M. whereas former President Thabo Mbeki, Africa Union's Special representative to Côte d'Ivoire, visited the country in view of a possible mediation between the two presidential camps,

N. whereas on 5 December 2010 Mr. Ouattara announced the formation of a government headed by ex-Prime Minister Mr. Guillaume Soro; while Mr. Gbagbo replied to this by announcing the nomination of his own prime minister, despite the protests of several thousands of people in the Northern city of Bouaké,

O. whereas the UN Security Council meeting on 8 December 2010 condemned in the strongest possible terms any attempt to subvert the popular will of the Ivorian people and acknowledged the ECOWAS decision confirming Mr. Ouattara as President of Côte d'Ivoire,

1.  Urges all the political forces in Côte d'Ivoire to respect the will of the people expressed freely in the results of the presidential elections of 28 November 2010 that were announced by the CEI and certified by the UNSG Special Representative, and which recognised Mr. Allassane Dramane Ouattara as President-elect of Côte d'Ivoire; commands all Ivorian parties, in particular, to refrain from, prevent, and protect civilians from all forms of illegal coercion and abuses of Human Rights;

2.  Condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempts by ex-President Mr. Gbagbo and his supporters to usurp the will of the Ivorian people by fomenting violence and undermining the integrity of the electoral process; stresses, in this respect, that results of democratic elections must be fully respected by all participants, including the defeated candidates, and underlines that failure to uphold these results would further put at risk both the peace and stability in Côte d'Ivoire;

3.  Deplores further deterioration of the rule of law in Côte d'Ivoire, characterized among other by illegal nationalizations of banks and arbitrary expropriations of money and property carried out by the camp of ex-President Mr. Gbagbo;

4.  Strongly condemns the acts of intimidation directed against the European Union's observers in Côte d'Ivoire and EU citizens in general that forced the mission to withdraw from the country for security reasons;

5.  Expresses its deepest solidarity with all innocent victims of injustice and violence in Côte d'Ivoire and their families; calls therefore on the United Nations Operations in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) to carry out its mandate resolutely to ensure the protection of civilians, especially women, children, and displaced people;

6.  Welcomes the decision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), taken on 7 December 2010, to impose sanctions on Côte d'Ivoire, including the suspension from all ECOWAS decision-making bodies until further notice, based on Article 45 of its Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance;

7.  Welcomes the communiqué of the Chairman of the African Union released on 6 December 2010 and the Decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council on 9 December 2010, to suspend the participation of Côte d'Ivoire in all AU activities, until the democratically elected President Mr. Ouatara effectively assumes State power;

8.  Appreciates the repeated statements of Baroness Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, in support of the electoral process in Côte d'Ivoire, the election of Mr. Ouattara as Head of State and salutes, in particular, her statement on 3 March 2011 in which she firmly condemned the killings of innocent civilians by forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, which opened fire on a peaceful pro-President-elect Ouattara's demonstration in Abidjan;

9.  Expresses satisfaction with the EU sanctions, adopted in support of African actions, which are to remain in place until Laurent Gbagbo accepts the results of the elections and hands over power to the legitimate president; considers, in this respect, crucial for the International Community and the United Nations to remain united in supporting democratic transition in Côte d'Ivoire;

10. Calls on the UN Security Council and Mr Young Joon Choi, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Côte d'Ivoire, to closely monitor the deterioration of the security situation in Côte d'Ivoire to prevent the perpetration of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, and to adopt, if necessary, a resolution allowing for an international or African-led military intervention in Côte d'Ivoire to uphold the rule of law in the country;

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the EU Council and Commission, the HR/VP Baroness Catherine Ashton, the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General, the ONUCI, the institutions of the African Union, ECOWAS, the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly and the governments of the EU Member States.