Any given representative from Armenia – be the country’s first person, MP from the government or opposition, first and foremost speaks about Artsakh issue at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. I understand why it is so, but I would very much like for it not to be so, inasmuch as the Council of Europe is not a platform for resolving those conflicts, the mission of that institution is the unification around European values and cooperation.
It does not work that successfully, also because of the inner issues of the institution about which, by the way, the President of the Republic of Armenia spoke yesterday. However, the main reason for not “succeeding” is that various countries are present in the PACE, also Armenia and Azerbaijan start to “gain points” in quarrelling with each other during the session. Of course, the initiator of that is usually is the delegation of Azerbaijan, as it was yesterday, when the leader of that delegation Seidov in an angry tone repeated, in my opinion, already worn-out arguments of the Azerbaijani provocation. But if the arguments are voiced, Armenians have to answer and the debate evolving beyond PACE mandate is inevitable.
Nevertheless, we should refrain overall from making Armenia remain in “Genocide, Karabakh, Russia’s forefront” associative sad row, not only at PACE but also other international platforms. It seems to me, we should not be shy or have complexes, we should freely discuss the pan-European agenda equal to other European countries (the true ones).
…From our MPs, Arpine Hovhannisyan has been elected as the vice-president of the European People’s Party faction. She represents the young generation of our public elite which has wholly sustained during the independent Armenia’s period: for it to fit in European value system, is much easier than for my contemporaries, it does not have language or any other barriers. I am sure that the EPP faction will discuss manifold issues relative to democracy and human rights and our representative will actively take part in those discussions. I think it is important also for Artsakh.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
