Thursday, October 25 2018 12:45

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.