PanARMENIAN.Net

EU: election – important test for democracy – was
conducted mostly in line with international standards
23.02.2008 14:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Presidency on behalf of the
European Union has issued a declaration on the
Presidential election in Armenia on 19 February 2008,
which reads as follows in particular:

"The European Union congratulates the Armenian people
for the conduct of a competitive presidential election
in Armenia. The European Union notes the statement of
preliminary findings and conclusions of the
International Election Observation Mission which
concluded that the presidential election in Armenia,
an important test for democracy in this country, was
conducted mostly in line with OSCE and Council of
Europe commitments and standards. The European Union
welcomes the genuine efforts that were made to address
the shortcomings in previous elections. However, the
EU also notes that the report raised concerns about
the electoral process and that further improvements
are necessary to address the remaining challenges. It
notes in particular that, according to ODIHR,
improvements and additional political will are
necessary to tackle concerns such as the lack of
public confidence in the electoral process, the
absence of clear separation between state and party
functions and ensuring equal treatment of candidates.

The European Union looks forward to the final results
of the presidential election and calls on the
competent authorities to ensure that complaints are
adequately investigated and shortcomings addressed."