ArmInfo.The first meeting of the Parliamentary Partnership Committee ended on October 24 in Strasbourg.
EU - RA under the chairmanship of the co-chairs Armen Ashotyan and Sajjad Karim.
As the press service of the Parliament reports, during the meeting a final statement and proposals were adopted, which are based on Article 365 of the Agreement on a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership of Armenia - EU.
The final statement reflects the current state of relations between Armenia and the EU and positions in various fields and issues of bilateral interest.
In particular, in the document affecting the various problems of the domestic and foreign policy of Armenia, the RA authorities are invited to implement all the proposals of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the OSCE / ODIHR, especially regarding the reforms of the Electoral Code, and if necessary also apply to the support of the international community, in particular European Parliament. Referring to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, the Committee regrets the loss of human life due to the conflict. It is also noted that the Committee is concerned about the periodic violations of the armistice regime, which claim the lives of military personnel and the civilian population on both sides, hinder the socio-economic development of the entire region. The Committee also believes that the current status quo is unacceptable and unstable, and the conflict cannot have a military solution.
The Committee reaffirms its continued support for the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group and the basic principles of 2009, which is also noted in the RA-EU Agreement on Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership. The Committee emphasizes that efforts should be based on the universal principles of international peace and security, enshrined in the UN Charter, the OSCE Helsinki Final Act and many other documents stressing the importance of the existing agreed formats for a peaceful settlement.
In its final statement, the Committee calls on the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan to hold talks at the highest level, to take real measures and re-establish a dialogue to reduce tensions on the contact line, stabilize the situation, promote a more constructive atmosphere for further negotiations with a view to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
The adopted document will also affect the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In this context, the Committee, recalling that December 9, 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, calls on the EU Member States to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The Committee also notes that this issue in recent years has become the subject of open and public debate in Turkey.