On October 20, the Chairman of NA Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly Mr. Armen Rustamyan met with the delegation headed by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of the Netherlands Mr. Henk Yan Ormel.

Greeting the guest, Mr. Armen Rustamyan noted the usefulness of those format meetings for outlining future strategy whether it is in the political or economic sphere. The colleagues talked about the functions, activity spheres and problems of their leading committees. Particularly, they exchanged information concerning ratification process of the agreement, relations with executive power and control.

The guests were interested in normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, particularly, in the future process of the report signed in Zurich. Mr. Rustamyan, as representative of opposition party, expressed concern over the official formulations of the signed document though marked that in general he was partial to open the borders without preconditions.

At the end of the meeting, the Dutch parliamentarian noted that the opening of the borders was the problem of both sides, though it would be useful for both two countries and the European Union.

The Chairman of RA NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs Mr. Mkhitar Mnatsakanyan, committee members Mr. Volodya Badalyan and Mr. Aram Safaryan also met with the representatives of the Dutch delegation.

The guests were interested in the issues of human rights protection and struggle against trafficking.

The committee members presented in detail the work done directed to the struggle against trafficking, noting that the prevention of human exploitation is in the focus of attention. It was recorded that Armenia among the former USSR states has the lowest index in the forced trafficking issue. Armenia has also worked out a project for resolutely struggling against that phenomenon. In this issue, the state cooperates with both state bodies and NGO’s and international organizations.

In the context of the protection of ,human rights  it was touched upon March 1 events of 2008. The committee members said that the conclusion presented by NA Ad-hoc Committee had eased the tension, and the March 1 as a political tragedy has been nearly overcome among the public. It was noted that though progressive steps were taken in the sphere of protection of human rights,  but the committee actively works to make human rights and fundamental freedoms more protected.

Other issues were also discussed during the meeting.