15th Meeting of the European Union-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Ends

On March 20 in the National Assembly the work of the 15th Meeting of the European Union-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC) continued moderated by the EU-Armenia PCC Co-Chairs Samvel Farmanyan and Sajjad Karim.

Issues concerning the EU-Armenia relations and perspectives, political developments, democracy, rule of law, human rights and freedoms were discussed.

The RA NA deputy Nikol Pashinyan has touched upon the issue of rule of law in Armenia and has talked about the situation of democracy in Armenia. Touching upon the Armenia-EU relationship, Edmond Marukyan has noticed that reforms are visible in our country as a result of deep and comprehensive cooperation with the EU.

The deputies also discussed regional issues, particularly touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Armenian-Turkish relations. The MP Stepan Margaryan highlighted the formation of the new agenda for the EU-Armenia relations. In his word, the relations with the international organizations are more effective when all the regional states take part in the works.

Talking about the problem of the NK conflict settlement, Alexander Arzumanyan has noted that Azerbaijan refuses the Minsk Group  recommendations, thus endangering the work done by the Co-Chairs during the six years. Speaking about the victims and the injured of the Armenian side because of the Azerbaijani subversion in the line of contact, Mr Arzumanyan has noticed that the Azerbaijani provocations express bellicose rhetoric.

In the opinion of the NA deputy Tevan Poghosyan, the representatives of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan should equally take part in the negotiation process. Meanwhile Azerbaijan often manipulates and directs the issue to Armenia-Azerbaijan platform.

Talking about the Armenian-Turkish relations, the MP Aghvan Vardanyan has noticed that Turkey should open borders without preconditions. Speaking about the Armenian Genocide, the deputy has noted that Turkey has been continuing the denial policy for already 100 years, and avoids facing the reality.

Samvel Farmanyan, the RA NA deputy, Head of Armenia-European Union PCC, has noted that Turkey with its policy manipulates the international community. According to him, it is recorded in the Armenian-Turkish protocols that Armenia and Turkey as subjects of international law, should assume obligations to establish diplomatic relations.

Talking about the perspectives of the EU trade policy, economic growth and cooperation, the RA First Deputy Minister of Economy Garegin Melkonyan has noticed that irrespective of Armenia’s joining the EEC, the EU is an important trade-economic partner for the RA.

Then the MPs by voting adopted the final statement and recommendations.

After the meeting, the press conference of the EU-Armenia PCC Co-Chairs Samvel Farmanyan and Sajjad Karim was held.