On October 19 Mr. T. Torosyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, received the delegation headed by the US Ambassador to the OSCE Mrs. Julie Finley.

Being in Armenia for the first time Mrs. Julie Finley noted that she is satisfied with the two-day meetings, had time to be in the capital and even out of the capital. She understood that the Armenians are good people as well. At her request Mr. Torosyan informed about the processes related to the amendments to the Electoral Code, highlighting the importance of prompt adoption of these amendments in conformity with democratic standards, taking into account the experts’ conclusions. It was noted that in the course of the discussions with political forces today an agreement had been reached to debate the draft on the Electoral Code in the first reading at the upcoming four-day sittings, and prior to the second reading, having coordinated some problematic issues with experts from international structures, to adopt the Code in the second reading at December four-day sittings.

Mrs. Julie Finley noted that she couldn’t be a counselor in the issues related to the adoption processes of the Electoral Code not being fully informed about details. She, first of all, highlighted the issues of participation (both: short-term and long-term) of observation missions in the course of parliamentary elections. She noted that the international community expects from Armenia free and fair democratic elections, for the holding of which not only good Electoral Code is necessary, but its enforcement as well.The importance of excluding double standards in the course of observation mission and application of joint evaluation standards were mutually highlighted in this issue. The NA President noted that, first of all, the Armenian powers are interested in holding the elections in conformity with democratic standards, highlighting their influence on further development and progress of the country.

In the course of the meeting they touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh problem as well. Since Mrs. Julie Finley represents the Co-chair country of the Minsk Group in the OSCE, Mr. Torosyan presented to her some of his considerations regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. Mr. Torosyan noted that any international organization is free to discuss the issues of Nagorno Karabakh (e.g. it was discussed and the resolution was adopted in the Council of Europe). These discussions sometimes are useful, but when there are attempts to move the issues of conflict settlement to other international organizations, it is not acceptable, because conflict settlement is a difficult issue: it requires lasting period and core knowledge of the issue. Thus, these types of attempts lead not to the solution of the problem, but to the failure of the process. It refers to the frozen conflicts, presented by GUAM countries within the UN framework. Mr. Torosyan wondered that one of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries defended that approach. Mr. Torosyan highlighted the settlement of the issue just within the framework of the Minsk Group, where the Co-chairs are well informed about every detail. It is notable, that they proposed a resolution recently, which is singled out by the establishment of real opportunities for conflict settlement. The resolution proposes not to oppose, but to appose the principles of nation’s self-determination and territorial integrity. Mr. Torosyan also denied the opinion that it is correct to freeze the processes of conflicts settlement in pre-election period, not to affect these processes. He noted that the solutions acceptable for the society will have positive impact on election processes, but non-acceptable solutions are not acceptable at all the times. It was spoken about it with Mr. Matthew Bryza as well, Co-chair of the Minsk Group, and he agreed with this approach. Mrs. Finley also agreed with this position, noting that it would be useful for her future work to know all about this.

Other issues were discussed also during the meeting.