ArmInfo. "When in 2013 Armenia last presided over the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, this mission has become an important milestone in the field of our integration into the family of the Council of Europe, and I think we have honorably implemented it." Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated this during the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on January 24.
The President noted that on January 25 marks the 17th anniversary of Armenia's accession to the Council of Europe. In his statement, in particular, it says: "When we became part of a pan-European structure, we were fully aware of what our path would be, we understood that building and strengthening democracy without the assistance and direct involvement of European structures would be difficult.
Indeed, thanks to political will and constructive work, we managed to overcome many obstacles and achieve profound reforms. Today I can proudly say that we have fulfilled all the basic obligations for the democratization of Armenia, which we assumed to the Council of Europe. This is not only our statement. The successes we have achieved for the establishment of democratic institutions were recorded in the reports of the Council of Europe Monitoring Services. We firmly continue the process of joining the pan- European legal system and to date the number of conventions signed by our country is approaching 70.
This is not just a process of fulfilling our obligations. We first of all realize our beliefs and ideas. And they intend to continue what they started. Moreover, starting from April this year the course of action of our country will gain new impetus through reforms, as, firstly, constitutional amendments will come into force, and secondly, we will start implementing the steps envisaged in the Agreement on Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership signed between Armenia and the European Union.
Every democracy is a living organism. We are well aware that democracy always requires attention, revision and development. It cannot be stamped in place and in order for it to be viable it is necessary to keep pace with the times. Guided by this logic, we proceeded to the constitutional reforms in Armenia, to which the Council of Europe expressed its support.
The President also noted with satisfaction the effective cooperation of Armenia with European countries and structures.
After the November 24, 2017 Agreement on a comprehensive and expanded partnership between the Republic of Armenia and the EU was signed in Brussels, this is the first participation of the Armenian President in such a multilateral format. January session of PACE passing from January 22 to 26 is quite rich, visits of the President of Austria and the Prime Ministers of Denmark are also expected during their chairmanship. This session includes a number of issues related to Armenia, including the report of the Azerbaijani delegate, Sevina Fataliev, on the topic "Protecting affected children during an armed conflict".