To a certain extent Armenia is in a rather privileged position: Piotr Świtalski

“Observation efforts of the civil society in the elections are very important. The EU will allot more than EUR 7 million to implement different events, which have been invested under the light of upcoming elections. We allotted EUR 4 million to support installation of the technology confirming identity of the voters. This project has been implemented by UNDP with the participation of CEC and the Parliament.  We have allotted EUR 2 million for installation of cameras and live coverage,” Piotr Świtalski, EU Ambassador to Armenia, told reporters today.

The Ambassador stressed that although cameras will be installed in not all polling stations, in about 95%, which according to the Ambassador, will be a very crucial achievement,

“These numbers reflect only a part of our efforts, as we’ve done a lot throughout these 12 months, it can’t be expressed in figures. The EU has invested a big share of political trustworthiness in Armenia’s Government, to guarantee best conditions for the upcoming elections. And surely, we won’t do it, if we believed this time we’ll have higher level elections, than before. When we look to implementation of various events, held until now, we can be very optimistic, as different interested parties show necessary political will to guarantee that Armenia’s upcoming elections will be held better. However, it doesn’t mean they’ll be perfect.”

The Ambassador stressed in no other EU neighborhood country it invested this much money and political trust to assist in preparation for good elections, than in Armenia, “In some sense, Armenia holds a rather privileged position.”

By Razmik Martirosyan