YEREVAN. - Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Świtalski conditions the harsh statements made by the Armenian side with the concerns about the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU.

MP of Yelk (Way Out) Bloc, Aram Sargsyan, told the aforementioned to Armenian News – NEWS.am, adding that the Ambassador expressed his concerns in a friendly manner, from which conclusion should be made.

A few days ago, Piotr Świtalski slammed the electoral processes in Armenia, noting that the composition of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia is not reliable and thus representatives of civil society should be included it. Referring to the Electoral Code, he also stated that the halls of power are attempting to make the election law suit their own political objectives. In response to the Ambassador’s statements, Justice Minister of Armenia Davit Harutyunyan noted that the Ambassador is interfering with the domestic affairs of the country, while Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov told Armenian News – NEWS.am that policy is not a wedding, where one pays money and orders music accordingly. The harsh response of the ruling party representatives was followed by the press-conference of the EU Ambassador on Tuesday, during which he recalled that 90 percent of the external funding transferred to Armenia came from the EU and upon the public request of Armenia.

“As to the inclusion of NGO representatives in the CEC, my friend, MP Artak Zaynalyan has been speaking about that for already more than ten years. And I can mention a lot of people, who proposed that. Mr Świtalski’s concern is that the elections in Armenia should be perceivable for at least 60-70 percent of the Armenian society.”

Referring to the harsh response of Davit Harutyunyan and Sharmazanov, the MP said: “I strongly believe that neither Eduard Sharmazanov nor Davit Harutyunyan would interfere on their own. I am sure that the order came particularly from the Armenian president. I am seriously concerned about the need for signing the Association Agreement in the future. As before, the Armenian authorities are rather afraid of position of their strategic partner. They were perhaps told to try to sign. I think this is the case,” the leader of Republic Party said.

In Sargsyan’s words, the issue on financial support was exacerbated by the Armenian side. “From the ideas expressed by Świtalski, I got the impression that he was trying to be frank within the boundaries of diplomacy, that he likes Armenia and has got attached to the country, thus wanting to see better conditions here. From this perspective, this was more of a concern and advice than a harsh diplomatic position. [But] Since the Armenian side tried to give lessons to that man, Świtalski simply gave a diplomatic response. After all, Europe, which has over 200 years of democratic experience and has covered that path should serve as an example to us or have a right to give advice,” the MP concluded.