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At the invitation of the RA NA President Alen Simonyan, the delegations led by the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the Parliaments of the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries cooperation format are in Armenia.

On January 23, a panel discussion on the topic Together for Peace and Democracy was held with the participation of the delegates.

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan delivered an opening speech at the start of the expanded discussion. The speech is here.  

The Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Srbuhi Galyan delivered a speech at the event. According to her, the topic of the panel discussion is consistent with the agenda of the reforms being implemented in the Republic of Armenia, including in the field of justice.

Speaking about democracy, the Minister presented the steps taken by the Government to strengthen democratic values.

“Democracy is the choice of our society, which is indisputable and irrevocable. Consequently, democracy is also the choice of the state and, so, democracy is also a way of working for us, the Government," Srbuhi Galyan underscored.

In the context of the reforms in the justice sector, the rapporteur noted that in recent years, with the support of the in ternational partners, in particular, the European Union, the Council of Europe and individual European countries, reforms have been implemented mainly in four areas: These are: The fight against corruption, the protection of human rights, the transformation of the judicial and legal sector, and the development of the penitentiary and probation sectors.

The Minister, emphasizing the importance of holding such discussions, expressed hope that they will be of a continuous nature, contributing to the deepening of the relations formed between our countries.

The panel discussion was coordinated by the RA NA deputy, the member of the Standing Committee on European Integration Sona Ghazaryan. The discussions took place within the framework of the democratic developments and reforms, cooperation with the Nordic-Baltic Eight cooperation format.

During the discussions, the RA NA President Alen Simonyan, the President of the Estonian Riigikogu Lauri Hussar, the Speaker of the Latvian Saeima Daiga Mierina, the Speaker of the Finnish Eduskunta Jussi Halla-Aho, the President of the Norwegian Storting Masud Gharahkhani, the Deputy Speaker of the Danish Folketing Karsten Hønge, the Deputy Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania Juozas Olekas and the Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag of Sweden Kenneth Forslund touched upon the EU integration processes, democratic developments and opportunities for access to the European market, challenges to democracy and freedom of speech, the negative impact of disinformation flows in these processes, and the consequences of authoritarianism.

“I believe that democratic societies are more resilient and stronger because people feel that they are the masters of their society,” the Speaker of the Finnish Eduskunta said.

“Democracy provides an opportunity to have a better society. Democracy is also important for us because the Armenian people have been deprived of democracy for a long time, and now protecting democracy means establishing strong institutions for us,” Sona Ghazaryan noted, and in this context, the issue of trust in democratic institutions was discussed.

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan touched upon democracy from a security perspective, noting that the greatest security system for Armenia is to be a democratic state.

“If you attack Armenia, you attack a democratic state. If you attack Armenia, you attack democratic values,” Alen Simonyan expressed his conviction.

The Speaker of the Parliament thanked his colleagues for their cooperation. According to Alen Simonyan, this visit will bring a new level of security to our country.

The colleagues expressed the opinion that democracy is a tool that helps strengthen security.

Cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership was touched upon. In this context, the Deputy Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag opined that the Eastern Partnership is a means to contribute to the EU and EU neighboring countries being able to improve the quality of life, the country's well-being, help protect democracy and pave the way for the EU membership.

The President of the Estonian Riigikogu also highlighted the role of social networks in the process of holding free elections. "We must protect democracy and be able to develop it in such a way that it is truly resilient," he noted.

According to the Deputy Speaker of the Danish Folketing, it is necessary to have a resilient society in the fight against disinformation. Freedom of speech is to criticize and be open to criticism. According to him, there is no need to make concessions when it comes to freedom of speech.

The Speaker of the Finnish Eduskunta addressed in his turn freedom of speech on social networks and the importance of protecting the society from fake news. I am convinced that restricting freedom of speech on social networks will cause more harm to our societies.

Before the second part of the panel discussion, a video clip on the Crossroads of Peace project was presented, after which discussions were held in the Q&A session with the participation of the representatives of non-governmental organizations and political parties within the framework of the topic South Caucasus Peace Agenda, Security Challenges, Cooperation with the Northern Europe-Baltic Countries.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan gave a speech. He assured that our country has undertaken to seek new opportunities to deepen the cooperation between the Nordic-Baltic countries.

Speaking about democracy and the pursuit of peace, the Minister stated that judging by the results of the elections, the citizens of the Republic of Armenia have overwhelmingly chosen democracy and peace.

“You have a partner, the Republic of Armenia, which deeply believes in democracy and peace and will not stop doing everything and all possible steps to have a peaceful and democratic place in the South Caucasus,” the Minister emphasized.

Ararat Mirzoyan also touched upon the processes of signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and normalizing the relations with Turkey.

At the end of the panel discussion, a press conference was held between the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan and the Heads of the delegations of the Parliaments of the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries of cooperation format.

According to the assessment of the NA President, such a high-level visit will have a positive impact on the process initiated by the Republic of Armenia to start an era of peace in the region. It was noted that an agreement was reached on deepening cooperation at the parliamentary level, as well as on the exchange of experience in a number of areas.

The partner delegates expressed their willingness to support deeper cooperation between Armenia and the European Union in all possible directions. Armenia's achievements in democratic reforms were also highly appreciated.