PACE POSTPONES ARMENIAN DEBATE UNTIL JANUARY
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to postpone debates on Armenia until January.
In a meeting on June 25, PACE members discussed the country`s fulfilling the assembly`s demands after a report by the organization`s co-rapporteurs said the Armenian authorities failed to make sufficient progress following the post-election violence this February.
John Prescott, PACE co-rapporteur on the Armenian elections, said the country made insufficient progress in fulfilling PACE resolution 1609 on functioning of democratic institutions.
Prescott said huge job must be done in Armenia to develop democratic institutions.
Raffi Hovanesian, a member of the Armenian delegation to PACE, said his country failed to pass the democracy test, and added he will refuse his deputy mandate if the Armenian authorities fail to stabilize the domestic political situation.
Rafael Huseynov, an Azerbaijani member of parliament, called Armenia a “unique” state whose state sovereignty is “something symbolic” as the country is unable to pursue independent policy and is ruled from the outside.
He said the political situation in Armenia is continuing escalating since the authorities are still unable to embark on a dialogue with the opposition.
The Azeri diplomat called on PACE to impose sanctions on Armenia and strip it from its membership, saying the country may become a huge threat to democracy not only in the region, but also in whole Europe.
Other news in this section
