Armenia never to get EU aid because of rigged elections – opposition rep

Armenia's authorities preferred rigging elections at the expense of the development programs in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, Levon Zurabyan, Head of the opposition bloc Armenian National Congress (ANC) parliamentary group, told journalists on Friday.Given the rigged elections, the European Union (EU) set two new requirements to Armenia."First, speeding up the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Secondly, certain steps after the presidential election supposed to resolve the problems caused during the parliamentary elections," Zurabyan said. One of the new requirements set to Armenia's authorities is to openly speak of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.The parliamentary elections were preceded by an announcement of an EU conference on assistance to Armenia – an estimated $2bn international aid to the country.The official condition for holding the EU conference in Armenia was the course of the elections. The funds were promised provided free and transparent ele ctions were held in Armenia.In its final report, the OSCE monitoring mission indicated that the parliamentary elections were held in defiance of the OSCE-set requirements. The result was the EU postponing the conference in Armenia.   Read more... (178 words)

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