On July 10, High-Level informal meeting took place in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, which was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the signing of Helsinki Final Act. The delegation of Armenia to the event was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimian.

In his speech the Deputy Minister highlighted the role of the OSCE based on the principle of consensus in the peaceful resolution of the conflicts.

Touching upon the principles of the Helsinki Final act, Ashot Hovakimian stressed that they are equivalent, and there is no contradiction between them. He expressed concern regarding the attempts of some participating states to ignore the principle of Equal rights and self-determination of peoples. It was underlined that the implementation of one-sided sanctions, including blockade, has negative impact on peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Armenian side considered essential the engagement of population and their elected representatives of conflicts’ zone in the negotiation process of the resolution of conflicts which will enhance the role of the OSCE in the fields of conflict settlement and human rights protection.

In his speech Deputy Minister Hovakimian attached importance to the activation of the activities of the OSCE and its agreed mediation formats in processes of confidence building, people-to-people contacts and reconciliation. He reaffirmed Armenia’s support to the constructive mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and peace in the region.

Within the framework of the event Ashot Hovakimian had also bilateral meetings with Michael Georg Link, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Benedetto Della Vedova, the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Gernot Erler, Special Representative for Germany’s OSCE Chairmanship.