ANCA: USA hails democratic elections in Armenia 

ArmInfo. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) thanked leading legislative supporters of Armenia for their letter congratulating Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the free and fair conduct of Armenia's December 9th  parliamentary election.

According to the information of ANCA received by ArmInfo, the  Congress and US Administration have congratulated Armenian acting  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenian citizens with a  parliamentary elections historical for the country. US Senators  Edward J. Markey, Jack Reed , and Sheldon Whitehouse joined with  Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone Jr., Dave  Trott, Jackie Speier, and David Valadao and Caucus Vice-Chairs Gus  Bilirakis and Adam Schiff to praise Armenia's "remarkable change in  its government through peaceful and democratic means." They stressed  that the election represented "another resounding victory for  advocates of a free and fair electoral process and ongoing democratic  reforms." In their letter to the Prime Minister, the legislators  pledged to "continue to support your nation in its steadfast pursuit  of regional security and economic prosperity. We will continue to  identify opportunities to aid Armenia's efforts to diversify its  economy, strengthen its trade ties with countries like the United  States, and continue to act as a safe haven for religious minorities  fleeing persecution in the Middle East. We are proud of the strong  bilateral relationship between our two countries and look forward to  bolstering our historic ties and friendship."

"We appreciate this strong expression of Congressional support for  Armenia's remarkable progress, and are, in this spirit, working on a  bipartisan basis with legislators in the House and Senate to pivot  off of these free and fair elections to upgrade the U.S.-Armenia  strategic partnership - driving higher level political dialogue,  expanded trade and investment, and mutually beneficial cooperation on  peacekeeping operations," said ANCA Executive Director Aram  Hamparian.

U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino also made  a a statement on behalf of US government in which he noted, in part,  "This year has been a time of remarkable change in Armenia. For 27  years, the United States has sought to support the development of  democratic processes and institutions in Armenia, and we will  continue to do so. We look forward to working with the new Armenian  Parliament and Government to deepen our bilateral partnership and  cooperation to strengthen the rule of law and democratic  institutions, combat corruption, promote trade and investment, and  safeguard regional and global security."