ArmInfo.The main speaker on Armenia has been replaced in the European Parliament. As Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan said on his Facebook page, instead of the former President of Romania, pro-Azerbaijani Traian Basescu, this position will be taken by the Bulgarian MEP, member of the European People's Party Andrei Kovachov.
As Ashotyan said, newly appointed Kovachov has a good idea and knowledge of both Armenia and the region as a whole.
Note that it was during Traian Basescu's tenure as rapporteur on Armenia that a joint statement of the European Parliament rapporteurs on Azerbaijan, Armenia and on cooperation with the countries of the South Caucasus Zhelyana Zovko (Croatia), Traian Basescu (Romania) and Marina Kalurand (Estonia) was disseminated regarding the construction road connecting Artsakh with the Republic of Armenia. In their statement at the time, MEPs called the decision to build the road a violation of international law. "This can symbolically consolidate the illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions," they said. Yerevan and Stepanakert sharply criticized the then one-sided statement of the European parliamentarians.