Monday, 5 November 2007
RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan received Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Terry Davies. The Prime Minister welcomed the visit of the EC Secretary-General to our country and emphasized that the cooperation in the frame of the EC is extremely important to Armenia. Terry Davies noted with satisfaction that during the visit he had the possibility of getting acquainted with Armenia
's cultural and historical assets: he has visited Matenadaran, the Genocide victims' memorial complex and Haghpat.During the conversation, the RA Prime Minister and the EC Secretary-General have touched upon Armenia
's efforts for the European integration and mentioned in this respect that certain progress had been recorded during the parliamentary elections of last May 12 which, in the opinion of the two sides, have laid a solid groundwork for the upcoming presidential elections. The interlocutors have expressed a common opinion that it was necessary to make everything possible in order that the presidential elections would constitute a step forward on this way.The parties have emphasized the importance of the efforts made in the direction of establishment of peace and stability in the region. In this context, they referred to the Karabakh peace settlement process. Terry Davies noted that the Council of Europe was not a passive observer of this process underway in the frameworks of the OSCE and that the EC was trying to promote whenever possible confidence building measures between the conflicting sides. Appreciative of any such action, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan indicated that at this stage of settlement it was necessary to rule out the use of biased statements and approaches on the part of the interested in the conflict organizations or individuals, which were susceptible to exercise pressure on the Minsk group or either of the two conflicting sides.
At the end of the meeting, both sides have expressed conviction that as result of an interested and effective bilateral cooperation, Armenia
's commitments assumed under the country's membership of the Council of Europe will be fulfilled in a timely and properly manner.
