(Adds analyst comment, background) By John Zodzi LOME, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The European Union restored full economic cooperation with Togo on Thursday after a 14-year suspension, citing the small West African state's successful holding of multi-party elections last month. The EU, Togo's biggest donor, froze most aid in 1993 because of what it considered a poor democratic record in the former French colony, which had suffered decades of authoritarian rule and periods of bloody unrest since independence in 1960. The country held parliamentary elections on Oct. 14, meeting one of the conditions set by the EU for normalising cooperation. President Faure Gnassingbe's ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party won a large majority. "Because of the progress achieved on the route to good political governance and the smooth running of the electoral process, the EU has decided to restart full and total cooperation with Togo," Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, head of the European Commission delegation in Togo, told reporters. Louis Michel, the EU's development and aid commissioner, said earlier this month after talks with Gnassingbe that full cooperation would be restored soon. Togo was once one of the more prosperous states in West Africa until its economy nosedived in the 1990s, mainly because of political unrest. A downturn in cotton production and weaker rice, bean and groundnut crops have also taken their toll. "The resumption of donor assistance could well be the impetus that kick-starts Togo's economy after a sustained slowdown," Timothy Armitage, an Africa analyst at research group Global Insight, said in a recent note. Foreign observers were criticised for being too quick to endorse last month's polls after the opposition Union of Forces for Change (UFC) challenged results which showed the RPT winning 50 of 81 parliamentary seats. The UFC called for the constitutional court to investigate after the election commission said more than half the ballot boxes in the capital had not been officially sealed and results had been recorded from polling booths not on official lists. The constitutional court has made no direct comment on these allegations but said its announcement of the results last month was final and irrevocable. Despite their party's misgivings over the ballot's results, elected UFC deputies attended parliament this month for the first time in more than a decade. (Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Michael Winfrey)
