Tuesday, 26 February 2008
RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan received the delegation led by OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland Ilka Kanerva.
Ilka Kanerva warmly congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on his victory in Armenia
's presidential election by noting that he will be able to send his Special Representative Haike Talvitie to attend RA President's oath-taking ceremony early this April. He thanked the Prime Minister for having invited international observers for these elections whose presence was said to have been instrumental as to objective assessment of election processes and results. According to Mr. Kanerva, both the OSCE and the European Union are attaching great importance to the development of cooperation with our country in the hope that Armenia will continue on the path of reforms with as much success in line with the European standards of democracy. Wishing Serzh Sargsyan every success in his responsible duties of RA President, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office asked the Armenian Prime Minister to make allowance for the countries of the North inclusive of Finland during his official visits abroad.During the meeting, RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan assured of his determination to lead Armenia along the road of democratic reforms. He expressed high opinion of the efforts made by the OSCE mission of observers and stated that the report on election results was unbiased and objective. According to Serzh Sargsyan, the findings of this mission represent an invaluable contribution to the cause of developing democracy in our country. The comments and recommendations available in the report will be taken note of in order to initiate appropriate remedial action. The Prime Minister further noted that the complaints filed in connection with these elections are under careful consideration with follow-up legal action having already taken for some of them. He expressed conviction that the steps in this direction will strengthen the trust of the public in the electoral process.
The parties have also touched upon regional issues, including the Armenian-Turkish relations and the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
