YEREVAN. Aug 22
The Armenian government has for the first time allotted funding for foreign non-governmental organizations (NGO) to monitor elections in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic (NKR).
The government decided at its meeting on Thursday to allot 33.8 million drams ($70,400) to the Union of Informed Citizens NGO financed by George Soros's Open Society Foundations and 17.48 million drams ($36.400) to the Armenian office of Transparency International to monitor elections to local self-government bodies in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Mayoral elections in ten towns in Nagorno-Karabakh, including Stepanakert, should be held in September.
The European Union has been assisting the Armenian government in improving the quality of elections and monitoring missions in Armenia for several years, Union of Informed Citizens Program Director Daniel Ioannisyan said on Facebook.
"But it is time now for Armenia to promote democracy, and the government has decided to finance a monitoring mission in Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh]. This is an unprecedented decision. The Armenian government has always acted as one asking for money for democracy until lately, but now it is financing this itself," Ioannisyan said.
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