Tuesday, July 2 2024 22:22

ArmInfo. The Head of the NA Delegation to OSCE PA Organization, the Chair of the Standing  Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly Sargis Khandanyan gave a speech at the Session going on in Bucharest.  As the press service of the RA NA reports, in his speech the MP noted:  

"Thank you, Mr. Chair, First, let me thank Tobias Winkler for doing outstanding job drafting this report and resolution despite the limited time. It is both comprehensive and addresses the pressing  security challenges in our region.

The draft resolution also addresses the current security and  political situation in the South Caucasus, specifically the peace  negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And I was planning to  talk about the aspirations towards peace that Armenia has, and as my  colleague said, that Armenia stands ready to sign a comprehensive and  sustainable peace agreement with Azerbaijan based on mutual  recognition of each other's territorial integrity, the inviolability  of borders, the principle of non-use of force in the spirit of the  Helsinki Final Act. Moreover, recently the Armenian government  expressed its readiness to sign the peace treaty within the upcoming  month based on the principles that I mentioned above.

But this proposal of the Armenian government was met exactly by the  same demand that was just voiced by the colleague from Azerbaijan,  who was talking about the Constitution of Armenia. The negotiated  peace agreement clearly states that the parties recognize each  other's territorial integrity and do not have claims against each  other. There is also agreed provision in the draft peace agreement  that neither party may invoke its domestic legislation for not  implementing its obligation under the peace agreement, which is also  very well-known principle of international law and this kind of  rhetoric and demands, I find, is a clear intervention in the domestic  politics of Armenia and internal affairs of Armenia, which is  unacceptable.

And here, I would like to quote paragraph 45 of the draft resolution:  "The Assembly welcomes diplomatic efforts by the international  community aimed at facilitating dialogue conducted in good faith as  well as other efforts dedicated to build trust between Armenia and  Azerbaijan." Dear colleagues, your engagement is crucial. Your  attention to the region is key for stability, because when you  overlook this region other actors who are not necessarily interested  in peace and stability activate their malign influence. This  deteriorates the security situation in the region and poses serious  threats to the democratic aspirations of my country, its  independence, and sovereignty. And my message that I bring from my  country to you, to the international community, is: "Be engaged and  don't overlook our region."