Armenia Parliament Speaker holds meetings in Strasbourg
On June 26-27, a delegation led by Armenian National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamyan was in Strasbourg on a working visit , on the occasion of Armenia's assuming the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
In Strasbourg, Hovik Abrahamyan met with the PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon.
Welcoming the NA President, the PACE President highlighted the visit of the President of the Armenian Parliament and his presence in the PACE session. Jean-Claude Mignon thanked the Armenian Parliament for excellent organization of the PACE bureau and Standing Committee meetings in Yerevan and holding them. THE PACE President emphasized the chairmanship of Armenia at the Committee of Ministers of the CoE, the declared priorities and agenda. He deemed important the activities of the Armenian Parliamentary Delegation in the PACE and highly assessed the work done in the political groups and committees of the Assembly.
The RA NA President has noted that the first chairmanship of Armenia in the Council of Europe is a significant event for our country and a unique opportunity to have a contribution and participation in member countries in the formation of the pretentious agenda of the Council of Europe aimed at spreading democracy, human rights and rule of law, all-human values. In Hovik Abrahamyan's word, Armenia greatly highlights and highly assesses the cooperation with the Council of Europe, as well as the support in the democratic reforms going on in our country. The NA President deemed important the role of the PACE in strengthening of democracy in Armenia, particularly, the co-rapporteurs's work of the Monitoring Committee. In this aspect he has stressed the importance of Armenia-Council of Europe 2012-2014 Action Plan, which is called on to support Armenia in implementing its obligations, particularly continuing the reforms in judicial-legal and criminal-procedural systems, in educational sphere, boosting the freedom of media and protection the children's rights, deepening the local democracy, improving the electoral legislation and practice.
The sides touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh issue, reaffirming the importance of the peaceful settlement of the problem under the auspice of the OSCE Minsk Group. The sides have agreed that any action which can disturb the work of the OSCE Minsk Group, should be excluded, at the same time reaffirming the three fundamental principles of the peaceful settlement of the NK problem proposed by Co-Chair countries.
At the end of the meeting, Hovik Abrahamyan left a note in the PACE Book of Honorable Guests, the RA NA Press Service reports.
