Azernews.Az

The Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis has criticized Armenia, saying all the elections held in the South Caucasus republic in recent years have fallen short of international standards.
Addressing the Yerevan State University students on Monday, he said some progress in the electoral process was observed only during the May 2007 parliamentary vote. He said "political culture" has not yet formed in Armenia to the desired extent.
"The authorities and opposition should be able not to strike each other under the belt but to hold dialog," Davis said.
The CE chief said that Armenia, which was admitted to the Council of Europe in 2001, has covered a long road, but this is not enough to comply with European standards. He emphasized that the government should crack down on corruption. Davis hit out at Armenia's law on alternate military service in the armed forces. "The adopted law is not in line with European standards. Alternate service in the army should not be of punitive nature in any case," the secretary general added.