Wilfried Martens surprised at Raffi Hovannisian's critics

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.

''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 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.

EPP summit was launched in Brussels, on March 14, Armenian and Georgian Presidents with an observer status also participated in the summit jointly with European Union member countries.