Moscow on electoral processes in Artsakh: Elections are necessary to  ensure the normal functioning of the population

ArmInfo.Moscow commented on the nationwide elections in Artsakh.  Thus, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, at a  weekly briefing assessing the fact of the elections in Artsakh,  recalled that regarding the elections held in Nagorno- Karabakh on  March 31, there is a statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on  the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, which includes representatives of  Russia, the United States and France.

However, she stated that the statement can be found on the official website of the OSCE  (www.osce.org).

"We presume that elections are necessary to ensure the normal  functioning of the population. At the same time, the Russian  Federation does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent  state. Its status should be determined through political  negotiations, which is what the OSCE Minsk Group is doing (the whole  range of problems).

At the same time, we do not believe that the course of the further  peace process in any way depends on the mentioned event. I would like  to comment on this. I emphasize that it is not initiative, but only  in response to the corresponding question, "summed up Zakharova.

Recall that on March 31, presidential and parliamentary elections  were held in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

According to the NKR Central Executive Committee, the second round of  the presidential election will be held in the republic since none of  the presidential candidates scored the required 50% + 1 votes for the  final election victory.

The second round of the presidential election will be held 14 days  after the vote, that is, April 14th.  According to preliminary data  from the CEC, former Prime Minister Araik Harutyunyan won 49.26% of  the vote, while Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan won 26.4. In third  place is the ex-secretary of the Security Council, Vitaliy  Balasanyan, who scored 14.7%.

Five parties will enter the new parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh. The  majority of votes were gained by the Free Homeland / United Civil  Alliance bloc (40.4%), led by ex-Prime Minister Araik Harutyunyan.   Also, the United Motherland parties - 23.63%, Justice - 7.9%, ARF  Dashnaktsutyun - 6.4% and the Democratic Party of Artsakh - 5.81%  passed to parliament.

It should be noted that a number of structures and countries have  already issued a statement in which they emphasized that they do not  recognize the electoral processes in the NKR and stated that these  processes can in no way affect the determination of the final status  of Artsakh or the negotiation process. A statement was made in  particular by the OSCE, EU, NATO, neighboring Iran and Georgia, the  United Kingdom, Italy and several other European countries.