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YEREVAN. 10 MARCH. On March 10, the Head of the Armenian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) Eduard Sharmazanov received the Head of the Permanent Delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia Milovan Drecun and the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia Veroljub Arsic who visited the Republic of Armenia within the framework of the visiting sitting of the CSTO PA.

Eduard Sharmazanov has noted that the relations between the two countries develop adequately and regularly, but there is a potential to further develop these relations. The Head of the Armenian Delegation has stated that the Armenian and Serbian peoples have a series of commonalities: now the two peoples live in independent countries, and the Christian values unite them. Eduard Sharmazanov has also underlined that the Armenian people don’t forget the Serbian pilots in a hurry to help the Armenian people during the disastrous earthquake that occurred to the Armenians about three decades ago, who died fulfilling their humanitarian mission.

Eduard Sharmazanov has considered prior the development and cooperation of the inter-parliamentary relations in different international structures. In this context he has considered non-understandable the fact of the Serbian Delegation’s support to the two anti-Armenian Resolutions in the PACE Session.

The interlocutors also touched upon the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and Kosovo problem and the fight against international terrorism. In terms of the NK conflict settlement issue, Eduard Sharmazanov has noted that it differs from Kosovo problem: unlike Kosovo, Nagorno Karabakh has no connection with the principle of territorial integrity, as it has never been a part of Azerbaijan. Eduard Sharmazanov has reaffirmed that Armenia sees the NK conflict settlement exclusively through peaceful means, within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group: “The realization of the Karabakh people’s right to self-determination has no alternative, and Nagorno Karabakh can never have lower status, than it has now,” he said. Considering the fight against terrorism a universal goal, Eduard Sharmazanov has stated that as a consequence of terrorism, about 20.000 Syrian Armenians has found asylum in Armenia.

The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia Veroljub Arsic has thanked his colleague for the reception and has noted that though the relations between the two countries rapidly develop, nonetheless there are spheres which should be activated. Veroljub Arsic has deemed necessary to develop especially the inter-parliamentary ties and the economic field.

Touching upon the issue of the conflict settlement, he has noted that Serbia tries to regulate the conflicts through dialogue and peaceful means. The Deputy Speaker of the Serbian Parliament has also noticed that the NK conflict and the Kosovo problem are on different platforms.

In the course of the meeting the Armenian and Serbian parliamentarians referred to the cooperation in different international organizations and highlighted the constructive work.