YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. The Artsakh Friendship Group of Dutch-speaking Belgian Parliamentarians congratulates the newly elected members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, and President-elect of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan.

''The first round of the presidential elections took place on 31 March 2020 during which none of the 14 candidates achieved more than 50% of the votes. On 14 April 2020 the second round was held, here Mr Arayik Harutyunyan, the former Prime Minister, was elected the next President of the Artsakh Republic. If all goes as planned, he will be assuming office on 21 May 2020. On 31 March 2020 Artsakh also held legislative elections. Five different political parties gained seats in the National Assembly, which is a positive result in terms of political plurality in a small country such as Artsakh.

The Friendship Group welcomes the commitment of the people of Artsakh to organize their society in a democratic way despite the imposed political isolation. The people of Artsakh have confirmed their commitment to democracy, a choice they already made since the first years of the country’s independence.

We want to emphasize the crucial necessity of the participation of the elected Artsakh representatives in the negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Unfortunately, the independent international election observation mission planned by the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) as well as many other observation missions had to be cancelled due to the global health crisis caused by the COVID19 pandemic and the general lockdowns.

The Artsakh Friendship Group of Dutch-speaking Belgian Parliamentarians has always held very good contacts with President Bako Sahakyan and members of the previous National Assembly, and stresses its willingness to maintain this cooperation on the same level with the newly elected representatives of the Republic of Artsakh. 22 April 2020 Artsakh Friendship Group of Dutch-speaking Belgian Parliamentarians'', reads the statement.