European People’s Party (EPP) President Wilfried Martens is very shocked by the criticisms that were hurled at him by Armenia’s opposition, and EPP partner, Heritage Party leader, former FM Raffi Hovannisian—who is declared runner-up to the winner, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, as a result of the presidential election that was conducted on February 18, but who claims to be the real winner in the vote and who declared a hunger strike on March 10 at capital city Yerevan’s Liberty Square—that Martens had violated the European precepts of democracy and the rule of law when he had congratulated Sargsyan on his reelection. The EPP leader himself told this Thursday to RFE/RL Armenian service.     

“I headed to Yerevan several weeks prior to the election, and I also met with Raffi Hovannisian. He was very civilized, and everything was all right. The observers’ assessments were very clear; there was real progress in this election. I believe the President of Armenia was truly elected, and in the right way,” the EPP President said in particular.   

In response to Heritage’s open letter that was addressed to Wilfried Martens, he considered the accusations the party had made against him to be baseless. 

“Perhaps Serzh Sargsyan’s challenger, Raffi Hovannisian, received much more than the votes he [actually] expected, and maybe now he has illusions that he could have received the majority [of the votes]. [But] the reality is that, in the first round of elections, the incumbent president received the majority of the votes,” the European People’s Party President stated in particular.