Tuesday, June 27 2017 14:59

ArmInfo.The situation when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is headed by a person involved in a corruption scandal (PACE head Pedro Agramund ed.) Is unacceptable.  The head of the Armenian delegation in this structure, the  vice-speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia,  Arpine Hovhannisyan, stated this in her speech at the PACE summer  session.

According to her, it is necessary not only to speak about the current  situation, but also to take active steps to correct it, since the  Assembly is the cradle of democracy. "We create the face of this  Assembly, and as its face, we must decide who exactly will represent  the structure, who can act on its behalf, therefore, we must  demonstrate an appropriate attitude towards these people. Concluding  my speech, I urge you to take effective measures, all of us are  collectively responsible for this Assembly, "Hovhannisyan said.

 To recall,  several months already the name of the PACE head Pedro  Agrmanud has been exaggerated in the corruption scandal connected  with the receipt of large bribes by him and a number of other  officials, in particular, from the Azerbaijani authorities for  lobbying subsequently the interests of this country on the PACE site.

During the spring session of the PACE, the issue of impeachment of  Agramund was raised, but the real reason for this was not the  corruption scandal itself, but his visit to Syria as part of the  Russian delegation.  European parliamentarians accused him of  complicity with the presidents of Russia and Syria, Vladimir Putin  and Bashar Assad. Despite the fact that Agramunt repented of the deed  and asked for forgiveness, this did not soften the position of his  colleagues. Nevertheless, Agramund did not go on about the demands of  the PACE delegates and did not resign, and the PACE regulations do  not provide for the removal of the chairman of the structure.