On May 16 in Strasbourg, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with the President of the PACE Theodoros Rousopoulos.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the issues related to Armenia’s engagement in the Council of Europe, views were exchanged on steps taken for implementation of Armenia’s ambitious reform agenda. “The Armenian Government pays special attention to democratic reforms, uncompromised fight against corruption and strengthening the independent judiciary, and Council of Europe in its turn makes an important contribution in this regard”.

Minister Mirzoyan added that the democratic reforms in Armenia and the steps undertaken to establish peace in the region are interconnected: it is possible to achieve lasting peace through the development of a sovereign, democratic state, respect for the protection of human rights and basic principles of international law.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the President of the PACE exchanged views on regional issues. The Minister presented the steps taken by Armenia to achieve lasting peace in the South Caucasus. Referring to the latest developments in normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Minister Mirzoyan referred to the position expressed at the level of the leaders of the two countries, which reaffirmed the mutual recognition of territorial integrity based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration. Minister Mirzoyan stressed that Armenia has a strong political will to normalize relations and in the case of full reciprocity it will be possible to achieve lasting peace in the region.

Humanitarian issues were touched upon. In this context, the resolutions adopted by PACE and importance of their implementation were underscored.