European partnership for democracy, EPD

REPORT - Honduras and the November elections: A missed opportunity?

The EPD is pleased to announce the release of its latest paper on the current crisis in Honduras. The paper argues that the elections in November represented an opportunity for the main domestic actors in the crisis in Honduras to change their approach. Furthermore, it is argued that the intervention of the international community, led by the Organization of the American States, has not provided a system of incentives for both parties to reach an agreement for settling the situation. On the contrary, the international community has been led into a game with two objectives where the strategy to resolve the institutional crisis has been conflated with a broader strategy aimed at balancing the influence of President Chavez and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). The paper cast doubts on recent developments in Honduras and suggests the need to launch a two tier approach where support for the November elections could be combined with a serious commitment to political dialogue in the country. Read the EPD's report here.

REPORT - Armenia on the Threshold of Change

As part of the European Partnership for Democracy's series of Working Papers on democracy assistance, Richard Giragosian and Marine Manucharyan report on the state of political affairs in the Republic of Armenia after the local elections for the city of Yerevan held in May 2009. The report shows that the Armenian society remains polarised after contested parliamentary elections of last year which were followed by demonstrations and violently suppressed leaving at least 10 people dead. The Armenian government handles the political and economic crisis with even more oppression and intimidation of anyone in disagreement. The last part of the report explains the current development in Turkey-Armenia relations which are going through unprecedented period of thawing. Read the report here.

EPD project: Results of Early Parliamentary Elections in Moldova

On July 29 the Republic of Moldova held early parliamentary elections. The Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova has gained the largest share of votes of 44.69%, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party with 16.7%; the Liberal Party with 14.68% and the Democratic Party with 12.54%. The fifth party to overcome the threshold of 5 percent is Moldova Noastra Alliance with 7.35% and these 5 forces will be present in the new Parliament. Full report.

Event: DEMOCRACY IN MOLDOVA: A SECOND CHANCE!

On Monday Jul 20th, 2009 ALDE group of the European Parliament organized an event, into which EPD took part, on the situation in Moldova in the light of upcoming early elections to be held on July 29th 2009. Over 80 people gathered on this occasion to hear some of the voices coming from Moldova commenting on the current political situation in Moldova which is part of both the European Neighborhood Policy and Eastern Partnership - two significant policies of the EU towards its neighboring countries. More...

Armenian Opposition Vows To Continue Probe Of Postelection Violence

Levon Zurabian, who is a leading member of former President Levon Ter-Petrossian's Armenian National Congress (HAK), announced on June 25 that the HAK intends to form a committee that will continue to investigate the circumstances of the violent clashes in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008, Noyan Tapan reported on June 29. President Serzh Sarkisian last month dissolved the five-person independent group of experts he established last fall and tasked with assessing the findings of the ad hoc parliamentary commission set up under pressure from international human rights bodies to review the events that culminated in the Yerevan violence.

Armenian Political Prisoners Released In Amnesty

Armenian authorities have begun releasing dozens of political prisoners more than 15 months after suppressing massive opposition demonstrations against the official results of a disputed presidential election. They have ensured, however, that not all jailed supporters of the top opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian are set free under a general amnesty declared on June 19. President Serzh Sarksyan's intention to keep more than a dozen of them behind bars is a measure of his self-confidence, resulting from opposition setbacks and Western support for his foreign policy.

Moldova CSO delegation calls for more EU presence in their country before elections in July

Four representatives of Moldovan civil society organizations visited Brussel between June 16 and 18 and held meetings with various European institutions' representatives about the current political crisis in Moldova. The EPD has supported their initiative and organized their meetings in Brussels. Please see memorandum from their visit here.

EPD exploratory working visit to Moldova 02-07 February, 2009

EPD in Armenia: second exploratory trip (January 2009)