SOLANA CONGRATULATES ARMENIA ON RELATIVELY FAIR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
May 14 2007
EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier
Solana, praised the Armenian people for showing political maturity
through the relatively fair elections held on Saturday.
"I congratulate the people of Armenia on the improvements in the
conduct of the parliamentary elections yesterday, which were conducted
largely in accordance with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments,
and I encourage the Armenian government to rapidly address the
shortcomings identified by international observers," said Solana in
a statement Monday.
"This is good news for EU-Armenia relations, in particular as they
were the first elections after Armenia and the EU agreed last year
on a wide-reaching Action Plan."
"The Armenian people have demonstrated greater political maturity
through these elections. I am confident that Armenia and the EU will
continue to develop relations in a spirit of partnership. This will
also be a positive signal to other countries in the region," he added.
The Republican Party of Armenia’s Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian
won the most seats in parliamentary elections, according to results
announced Sunday. The party took 39.2 per cent in Saturday’s poll,
followed by the allied Prosperous Armenia Party with 14.7 per cent.