Armenia advancing regional peace era agenda - Alen Simonyan

ArmInfo. The delegation led by the RA NA President being on a working visit on the Federal Republic of Germany had a meeting-discussion with the leadership of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and the invited MPs, political and public figures.

The meeting began with the welcoming speech of the Head of the International Division of the Foundation for Freedom Ren‚ Klaff, by which he highlighted the work of the Foundation with Armenia, mentioning the satisfactory results on democracy. The RA NA President's speech followed it was dedicated to necessary steps to be taken on preservation of democratic values and human rights and freedoms.  Addressing the attendees, Alen Simonyan said that Armenia, being a bearer of democratic values, believes that the freedom and the responsibility are the prerequisites of open and democratic society.

"We, the parliamentarians, the bearers of the free speech, are also the particle of democratic society. In the modern world the parliamentary diplomacy is an inseparable part of foreign policy. Its role is also big in the development of inter-state relations," he noted, adding that our country supports the values adopted by the Foundation: the personal, electoral, economic freedom and rule of law.

Speaking about the mission assumed by Armenia after the velvet revolution happened in Armenia, the NA President mentioned that the Armenian authorities want to change of the relations in a region, in an environment, where it is not safe anymore. Alen Simonyan in particularly presented the 44-day war and some important episodes regarding the events following it, underlining the availability of the destructive developments on Armenia and Artsakh Armenians.

The NA President reminded the attendees that the right of Nagorno Karabakh Armenians to living relevant to their own identity had always been violated by the Soviet, as well as by independent Azerbaijan and it continues to be dishonored up to now.

"From 12 December 2022, Azerbaijan closed the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the outside world, the Lachin Corridor, as a result of which 120.000 residents are in actual blockade.  This action of Azerbaijan is a gross violation of the obligations assumed by the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020, which is a part of the large-scale and systematic policy of Azerbaijan aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the people in Nagorno-Karabakh," Alen Simonyan said, underscoring that Azerbaijan does not even obey the legally binding decision of the International Court of Justice: on March 5, three citizens were killed in Nagorno Karabakh by an Azerbaijani subversive group. He noted that hours before the discussion of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Azerbaijanis opened fire on Armenians engaged in agricultural work.

The Head of Parliament thanked the German Government for supporting the decision to deploy a long-term monitoring mission of the EU in Armenia. Concluding his speech, he assured that Armenia is advancing the agenda of opening an era of peace in the region.

The RA NA President's speech was followed by the questions of the participants, which mainly related to the security and stability of the region, the international community's assessment and support to Armenia and Artsakh Armenians, Armenia-Diaspora relations and the attitude of the Armenian society to the power- opposition relations and the interest shown in local self-government elections. The German partners were particularly interested in the process of the Armenian reforms and the nationwide mood regarding their tangibility.

At the end of the meeting, the leadership of the Foundation reaffirmed readiness to support Armenia, which has a young but stable democracy.