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The Estonian MP Vladimir Velman, who observed the parliamentary elections in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, answered the questions of the Azerbaijani media outlet Haqqin.az saying that he is free enough to move and he knows what he does.

 “I arrived in Nagorno Karabakh in a group of the International expert Center for Electoral Systems. We visit all the countries where elections are held. You see, we just monitor the elections mechanism in itself in other countries without any political assessments. This is all we are interested in,” the Estonian MP said and added that there were many observers from other countries in the NKR.

 The MP highlighted that the monitors do not intend to intervene in the work of the OSCE Minsk Group and only observe the procedure of the elections.

“The supreme value of a democratic society is the free person who has the right to be everywhere. I do not intend to give political assessments to the processes around Karabakh in any way. But as an MP I must not ask a permission from someone to go somewhere,” Velman said. 

Commenting on his inclusion in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s ‘black list,’ the Estonian MP said ironically, “Included, well and good. I have been included in some lists, even in Estonia, before. Once such a practice is exercised in Azerbaijan, what can one do?”

More than 100 representatives from 25 countries observed the parliamentary elections in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) which took place on May 3. 68,915 people voted for 7 parties taking part in the election campaign. According to the NKR Central Election Committee, the party Free Homeland is at the top of the list with the 47.35% of the votes. 19.1% of the electors voted for the Democratic Party of Artsakh, 18.81% voted for the ARF Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD), 5.38% - for the National Revival, 6.93% - Movement 88, 1.65% - Communist Party, and 0.86% - Peace and Development.