President Serzh Sargsyan received the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland who has arrived to Armenia to participate in the High Level Conference on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Europe organized in the framework of Armenia’s Presidency at the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe on October 21-22 in Yerevan.

Stressing the role of CE in the dissemination of universal values, Serzh Sargsyan with this regard underscored the importance of organizing the Conference in Yerevan and Mr. Jagland’s participation to the event. The President assessed the Conference as one of the pivotal events conducted by Armenia in the framework of her Presidency at the CE Ministerial Committee. The President of Armenia expressed hope that Armenia’s Presidency at the CE Ministerial Committee has promoted CE activities and expressed gratitude to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for his constant support throughout Armenia’s Presidency in the Ministerial Committee and to this particular event in Yerevan.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe noted that the topic of the Yerevan Conference is extremely important for him personally and expressed hope that it will be productive. He congratulated the President of Armenia on the successful Presidency at the CE Ministerial Committee. Thorbjørn Jagland stressed also the importance of CE Yerevan Office activities.

At the meeting, the President of Armenia reiterated Armenia’s commitment to continue and deepen the process of modernization of our state and society based on the principles of protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Serzh Sargsyan expressed hope that the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission in particular will bring their assistance to the process of amending the RA Constitution.

The President of Armenia and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe spoke also about the CE agenda, development of Armenia-EU cooperation, regional problems, process of reformation of the legal and judicial system in Armenia and other issues of mutual interest.