Brussels, 20/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 February, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle hailed the progress achieved at the presidential elections in Armenia on 18 February, but said that “a number of outstanding concerns” will have to be followed up.
In a joint press release, noting the preliminary conclusions of the international election observation mission (see EUROPE 10789), Ashton and Füle welcomed the “progress made by the Armenian authorities in their efforts to hold these presidential elections in line with international standards”, notably through improved administration of the electoral process, “ensuring possibilities for candidates to campaign freely and better quality of the voter lists”.
However, Ashton and Füle underlined that they expect a number of outstanding concerns to be followed up appropriately, “including reported instances of partiality by public servants, claims of misuse of administrative resources, unclear interpretation of campaign financing provision and cases of pressure on voters”. They also encouraged the authorities to undertake “an inclusive and transparent process of amendments to the election-related legislation”, in line with the OSCE's recommendations following the parliamentary elections in May 2012.
The leader of the European People's Party (EPP), Wilfried Martens, warmly congratulated President Serzh Sargsyan on his re-election. Martens was also pleased “with the fact that these elections were the country's best-ever organised and were mostly in line with international standards”. “This victory represents clear support from the citizens for the democratic, economic, and legal reforms undertaken by President Sargsyan and an encouragement for their continuation”, Martens continued, confident in the fact that the process of democratisation will continue. (CG/transl.fl)