DeFacto Agency, Armenia
July 4 2007
NKR MFA: CE CASTS DOUBT ON THE ELECTION INSTITUTE AS DEMOCRACY’S
IMPORTANT ELEMENT
Nagorno-Karabagh Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed
regret over the statements made by the representatives of the Council
of Europe with the condemnation of the presidential elections to be
held in the Nagorno-Karabagh.
`’It arouses regret that the representatives of the Council of Europe
– the organization, which is called to protect and propagate the
ideals and principles of pluralistic democracy, human rights and
supremacy of law by means of integration processes – condemns holding
of elections. By doing so they cast doubt on the election institute
as an important element of democracy, which contradicts the Council
of Europe’s Charter”, NKR FM Georgy Petrossian stated, commenting on
Vuk Jeremic’s statement, according to which upcoming presidential
elections in the NKR could not contribute to the conflict settlement
and hamper the talks.
According to the NKR FM, unless the European officials wish to
contribute to the democratic processes in the NKR, then `’we have the
right to expect that they, at least, will not hamper strengthening of
democratic institutes in our Republic”. `’ We are deeply sure that
democratization is an important precondition for the Karabagh
conflict’s settlement, as democracy presupposes establishment of
mechanisms, which allow solving any conflict only by peaceful means.
That is what the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic is striving for. It would
be natural if the representatives of various European structures
shared this striving”, Georgy Petrossian noted.