Armenia identifies major priorities of its upcoming chairmanship of the Сouncil of Europe Сommittee of Ministers

YEREVAN, April 17. /ARKA/. Armenia has identified major priorities of its upcoming chairmanship  in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which will be passed to it in May 2013, Armenia’s acting foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said Wednesday at a joint news conference with the visiting secretary general of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland.

"When deciding our priorities during our chairmanship in  the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, we tried to combine the pressing  issues on the organization’s agenda with issues which Armenia views as its own priorities,  namely  human rights, rule of law and democracy,’ he said.

Nalbandian said Armenia’s plan of actions will be announced on May 16 in Strasbourg. It calls for a number of activities at the level of parliaments, constitutional courts, foreign affairs ministries  of the member countries on issues such as fight against discrimination and intolerance, cultural and religious dialogue, education and youth policy.

He added that during Armenia’s chairmanship in the organization Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and some other top leaders will make  visits to Strasbourg.

In turn, Thorbjørn Jagland praised Armenian authorities for making  progress in the implementation of its membership commitments and enforcement  of reforms in the fields of human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

"We discussed Armenia’s program of activities, which is very constructive and consonant with the agenda of the organization", he said.

Jagland also commended the authorities of Armenia for setting up a working group to consider the recommendations of international observers to reform the electoral system and for establishment of a parliamentary commission to investigate the events of March 1-2, 2008 in Yerevan.

The decision to establish an ad hoc commission to study the tragic events of March 1-2, 2008 was made by a parliament committee on March 15 on the initiative of deputies from the opposition Armenian National Congress. 

It  will be the second ad hoc parliamentary commission to study those events. The first one was established  in June, 2008 under the pressure of the PACE. Its report was presented to the parliament on  16-17 September 2009. -0-