Brussels, 19 November 1996 (RFE/RL) - The Parliament of the European Union has passed a resolution on Armenia's presidential election that urges Yerevan to hold new elections in those areas where violations of electoral law were reported by international observers.
A European Parliament spokesman tells RFE/RL that the Parliament's resolution is based on reports filed by observers who monitored the election for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The spokesman said the OSCE reports show numerous irregularities and significant differences between the number of people who voted and the number of registered voters.
The resolution was adopted last Thursday at the Parliament's monthly session in Strasbourg but received little notice at the time. It has since been sent to top Armenian officials.
The Parliament's spokesman says the attitude of the Parliament toward an EU cooperation-and-partnership agreement with Armenia could be influenced by Armenia's response to the resolution. The Parliament must approve such agreements before they can take effect.
Armenia's Constitutional Court is hearing a challenge to the disputed election, in which President Levon Ter-Petrosyan won re-election in September.
Foreign observers have said there had been major irregularities by Ter-Petrosyan's supporters. And the OSCE said the irregularities may have been sufficiently serious to dispute the result.