RA President Serzh Sargsyan meets with PACE President

President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Strasbourg to attend in the January session of the PACE, met today with newly elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Michele Nicoletti.

At the beginning of the meeting, President Sargsyan congratulated Michele Nicoletti on being elected to the post of President of the Parliamentary Assembly, expressing the hope that his tenure might bring about positive changes in PACE, and Mr. Nicoletti’s personal qualities and experience would serve PACE’s best interests.

The interlocutors voiced satisfaction about the high standard of Armenia’s cooperation with the Council of Europe, the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe, including PACE and the CoE conventional and intergovernmental agencies.

President Sargsyan stressed that since Armenia’s accession to the Council of Europe 17 years ago; the Council of Europe has been and remains a key partner supportive of reforms in Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan appreciated the expert and advisory assistance for comprehensive reforms underway in Armenia, especially as provided in recent years.

The President highlighted the importance of the PACE monitoring process, Co-rapporteurs’ reports on Armenia which, according to Serzh Sargsyan, are aimed at strengthening democracy, improving the citizens’ living standards, facilitating our country’s progress, as well as recording Armenia’s achievements.

As the President assured, Armenia is prepared for active cooperation. Serzh Sargsyan expressed confidence that Armenia’s transition to the parliamentary system will have a positive impact on the further development of cooperation with PACE.

On behalf of his organization and himself, the PACE President appreciated Armenia’s steadfast progress on the way to stronger democracy, human rights and rule of law and assured of their readiness to continue the ongoing effective cooperation.

The parties exchanged views on the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They also focused on other issues related to the further development of CoE-Armenia relations and cooperation agenda.