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On November 3, the co-rapporteurs of the Committee for the Monitoring of Obligations and Commitments by Armenia of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that arrived in Armenia, met with the members of the RA NA delegation to PACE. The NA Vice President, the Head of the Armenian delegation to the Organisation Ruben Rubinyan took part in the meeting in the distant format.

Eduard Aghajanyan thanked the co-rapporteurs for showing continuous support in strengthening democracy in Armenia. It was noted that during the last years considerable reforms were implemented in our country. In that context Eduard Aghajanyan has highlighted the full implementation of Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia-2019-2022, which supposes reforms in the judicial system, in the fight against corruption, in the local democracy, in strengthening protection of human rights in the armed forces, in the police and in other spheres.

Eduard Aghajanyan evaluated the observation of the snap parliamentary elections held in our country by the Assembly in June 2021 and the given high assessment. It was stated that the population of Armenia had given a mandate to the Government to continue the agenda of the reforms.

Speaking about the Arsakh second war, the Armenian parliamentarians noted that joining the Council of Europe, Armenia and Azerbaijan were committed to settle the conflict exclusively through peaceful means. However, unleashing the 44-day war of 2020, Azerbaijan breached that obligation.

With regards to the post-war situation, the legislators have underlined that the issue of the return of Armenian prisoners of war and other persons kept in Azerbaijan to the Motherland which is prescribed by 9 November 2020 trilateral statement.

Eduard Aghajanyan has valued the CoE position during the war and after that, underscoring that the statements have been unbiased and constructive. He expressed hope that using the diplomatic and political tools, the colleagues of the structures would make Azerbaijan return to the negotiation table.

The NA deputies also highlighted the adoption of the resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during PACE Autumn Session.