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At February 6 press conference, the Head of the RA Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Ruben Rubinyan, members of delegation Vladimir Vardanyan, Mikayel Melkumyan, Edmon Marukyan, Hovhannes Igityan, Tatevik Hayrapetyan and Sos Avetisyan presented details on the works of PACE Winter Session held in Strasbourg on January 20-26, 2019.

Ruben Rubinyan noted that the most important item concerning Armenia within the framework of the Session was the report of the Observation Mission on the extraordinary parliamentary elections held on December 9, 2018. The speaker Aleksander Pociej highly assessed the quality of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia, underlining that the elections were competitive and free.

According to the speaker, heads of the political group included in PACE, individual MPs, who positively assessed the elections, delivered speeches.

Ruben Rubinyan, as Head of delegation, met with PACE Secretary General Wojciech Sawicki, discussed items on the works of the delegation. To his assessment, there is complete understanding and cooperated readiness for working in the atmosphere of mutual aid among the members of the delegation.

The members of the delegation met with PACE President Liliane Pasquier, who congratulating them on the occasion of democratic elections held in the country, noted that the example of Armenia could be infectious for holding elections in other countries.

The other members also touched upon the meetings and upcoming programmes, underscoring the positive attitude of PACE colleagues towards new Armenia and the members of delegation.

It was informed that Edmon Marukyan and Mikayel Melkumyan, referring to the Azerbaijani delegation’s some qualifications addressed to the RA former power, urged the Azerbaijanis to get engaged with the problems of democracy in their country.

The members of the delegation answered the journalists’ questions, which related to the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the monitoring being implemented by PACE.