Saturday, October 29 2022 19:07

ArmInfo. Comprehensive and lasting peace, a high-quality and affordable education system and a professional, combat-ready army are listed as 3 key priorities in the  draft program of the Civil Contract for 2021-2016. Prime Minister of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated at the 6th Congress of the Civil  Contract party.

Speaking about the last point, he explained that, first of all, the  state is faced with the task of increasing the authority of service  in the army, significantly improving social guarantees for the  servicemen and their families, introducing new standards and quality  criteria, increasing the technological effectiveness of the army,  modernizing military education, including through international  cooperation and contribute to the development of the  military-industrial complex.

The prime minister singled out these three priorities, which must be  implemented in the medium term, as key factors in ensuring Armenia's  security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. "Ensuring peace in  the near future is not an easy task, especially in conditions when  the world order is collapsing before our eyes," he said.

According to the head of government, in order to establish peace, it  is necessary to solve 2 tasks - to implement the provisions of the  tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, all the provisions of the  tripartite statement of January 11, 2021 and resolve the issue of  Nagorno-Karabakh.  .  In this regard, he noted that, first of all, it  is necessary to exclude different interpretations of the above-  mentioned documents. In particular, he touched upon the issue of  opening communications, emphasizing that Armenia excludes the launch  of a corridor through its territory.

"I don't know if this is a reasonable, flexible position. But this is  a principled position, which is enshrined in the content of the  tripartite statement," the prime minister noted. He said that this  issue is the subject of discussions, but the destructive activity of  Azerbaijan forces us to return to the texts of statements again.  

Since, as Pashinyan further noted, Azerbaijan has different ideas  about opening communications, in particular, they are talking about a  corridor through the territory of Armenia, which should not be  controlled by the Republic of Armenia.  In this regard, he referred  to the decree signed by the President of the Russian Federation on  November 10, 2020 "On measures to maintain peace in  Nagorno-Karabakh". 

In paragraph 3 of this document, it is noted that the Federal Service  of the Russian Federation will exercise control over the provision by  the Republic of Armenia of transport links between the western  regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous  Republic for the unhindered movement of citizens, vehicles and goods  in both directions.  

"This means that roads and communications are provided by the  Republic of Armenia, and the Russian Federation, as an intermediary,  monitors that the Armenian side ensures the unhindered movement, and  there can be no other readings here," he stressed.  

According to Pashinyan, the documents also state that all economic  and transport links in the region should be unblocked and control  over transport links should be carried out, including with the  support of the border guard service of the Russian Federation.   "There is no term in paragraph 9 of the tripartite  statement. And therefore, the sovereign right of Armenia cannot be  violated in any way. And if there are no problems with this content,  then we are ready to look for solutions, both in terms of roads and  railway communication," he stressed.