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On 20 February, Constitutional referendum was held in Artsakh, which is in accordance with the Western European standards, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Frank Engel said during the press conference on Friday 21.

“No controversial thing can be mentioned over the elections.  Despite the non-recognition of Artsakh, I guess I can already confidently call it the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,” Frank Engel added smiling.

In the words of the MEP, the non-recognition has not affected the will of the Artsakh people and has not prevented them from actively taking part in the referendum and confronting the entire world. 

“The NKR people said “yes” in quite grounded way. There is no doubt that this means something, as the 2/3rd part of the electorate said “yes” to the Constitutional reforms and thus the legitimacy cannot be questioned,” the MEP underscored.

Asked whether the Constitutional referendum can affect the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Frank Engel said that this is not the first Constitution that has been adopted in the NKR and cannot leave any impact on the conflict settlement.

Another Member of the European Parliament Jaromír Štětina announced that whatever they saw during the referendum fully complied with the international standards.

“I congratulate you, the Artsakh people, for having organized the elections in this manner. Together with the new Constitution this referendum will pave a way to the NKR independence,” Jaromír Štětina announced underscoring that the referendum can no way influence the NKR peace talks as stated by Azerbaijan.

“Through the referendum the people have expressed their will,” the MEP added.