Frank Engel: NKR referendum is in accordance with Western European standards

The Constitutional referendum in Nagorno Karabakh was in accordance with the European standards, MEP Frank Engel said on February 21, summarizing the preliminary results of the observation mission during the voting, reports “Armenpress”. “Despite the nonrecognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, I think I can already con�dently call it Artsakh Republic,” Frank Engel said, adding that being unrecognized didn’t impact the will of people.

“This doesn’t hinder them to actively take part in the voting and come out against the entire world. The NKR people said “yes”. I hope the international community will take into account that the people in this country are free in making their choice, and at the same time the same is not applied to a state several kilometers away from here,” he said.

Commenting on Azerbaijan’s “black list” and his possibility to be included in it, Frank Engel said, “I have recently checked it, I am not included in the list yet. If I am included, I will not be surprised since I have no plans to spend my vacations in Azerbaijan,” he said.

As of 03:00, 69.540 citizens (87.6%) of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) voted in favor of the Constitutional referendum. 7686 citizens voted against, the NKR Central Electoral Commission said. 2202 ballots (2.8%) were declared invalid. 79.428 (76.44% of the total number of voters) out of 103.766 citizens took part in the voting