Armenian NA president speaks at 143rd Assembly of the  Inter-Parliamentary Union

ArmInfo.A delegation led by the President of the RA National Assembly Alen Simonyan took part in the 143rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union being held  under the auspices of Parliament of Spain, the press service of  Armenia`s Parliament reports. 

At November 28 meeting, the RA NA President delivered a speech. He  thanked his Spanish colleagues for the excellent organization of the  IPU Assembly after two years of break and for the warm hospitality.  The Speaker of Parliament has noted that over the recent years  Armenia and its people have been facing numerous domestic and  external challenges. Alen Simonyan has underlined that after the  Velvet revolution in 2018 the Armenian government over the recent  years has initiated wide multi-sectoral reforms for the benefit of  democratic values and principles. He has stressed that democracy in  Armenia has no alternative.  The President of the National Assembly  considered one of the serious challenges to the democratic  development is the danger of destabilization and regional conflicts.

Touching upon the 44-day war Nagorno Karabakh unleashed by  Azerbaijan, the NA President highlighted the necessity of finding  solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the  OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. In the context of the presentation of the  post-war events, Alen Simonyan reminded the attendees about the  meeting of the Prime Minister of Armenia and President of Azerbaijan  two days ago where the ways to stabilize the situation were discussed  - to unblock all transportation and communication links and to solve  all humanitarian issues, including the return of Armenian prisoners  of war and other detained persons. He drew the attention of his  colleagues to the need of an honest dialogue, in case of which all  problems could be solved without resorting to the use of force. The  Head of the legislative body has considered one of the major  contemporary challenges of democracy remains corruption, adding that  the fight against it is one of the main priorities in Armenia.

In his speech the NA President also referred to the issues of youth,  the freedom of media in Armenia and the women's rights.

Concluding his statement, the RA NA President has stressed that in  our fast-changing modern world, we have to join our efforts to  withstand all challenges. The agenda main theses of the voiced  speeches, discussions are built around contemporary challenges of  democracy. The goal of the Assembly is to expand the opportunities of  communication for the members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,  promoting the development of the inter-parliamentary relations.

During the previous two days of the Assembly the delegates reflected  upon the ease of public trust towards the political systems, the  polarization via social network and the functions and the crucial  role of parliaments in spreading disinformation.  The  parliamentarians exchanged ideas on the effective cooperation with  the society, the inclusiveness of the decision-making process and  representation. More than 120 member states are included in the  Inter- Parliamentary Union. It was designed to adopt the new strategy  of the Inter-Parliamentary Union for 2022- 2026. It has an aim to  reorient the Inter-Parliamentary Union in the spheres, where it can  have great impact, and where there is need for parliamentary toolset.  The strategy defines the following political priorities:  means of  fight for climate change, democracy, human rights and gender  equality, peace and security, sustainable development.

The RA NA  President also held a meeting with President of the  Inter-Parliamentary Union Duarte Pacheco.