USA - The United States and the European Union have praised Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Armenia, echoing the vote’s positive assessment by European observers.

They also pledged to help Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose political alliance won a comfortable majority in the Armenian parliament, carry out political and economic reforms promised by him.

“The United States congratulates the people of Armenia on the conduct of their December 9 parliamentary elections,” a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Robert Palladino, said in a statement issued late on Monday.

“The United States concurs with the OSCE’s preliminary conclusions that the elections process enjoyed broad public trust and respected fundamental freedoms,” he said.

“We look forward to working with the new Armenian Parliament and Government to deepen our bilateral partnership and cooperation to strengthen the rule of law and democratic institutions, combat corruption, promote trade and investment, and safeguard regional and global security,” added Palladino.

“The early parliamentary elections were important in terms of enhancing public trust towards the electoral process in Armenia,” read a separate statement released by Maja Kocijancic, an EU foreign policy spokeswoman.

“We look forward to working with the democratically elected new Parliament and the future Government to deepen our political and economic relations based on the joint commitments of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement,” she said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was apparently the first European leader to congratulate Pashinyan on his bloc’s election victory. In a congratulatory message cited by the Armenpress news agency, Merkel reaffirmed support for his reform agenda.

In their preliminary report, the more than 300 monitors deployed by the OSCE, the EU and the Council of Europe noted a “general absence of electoral malfeasance” in the snap polls held over seven months after Pashinian-led mass protests toppled Armenia’s former government.

Source: http://asbarez.com/176667/u-s-eu-hail-sundays-elections/