POLITICS
PACE PRESIDENT MAKES STATEMENT ON RESULTS OF HIS ARMENIA VISIT
During the official visit to Armenia from 23 to 24 July, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig met with the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as, amongst others, members of the different political factions in the Parliament, Human Rights Defender, the Catholicos of All Armenians and former President Levon Ter Petrossian to discuss implementation of Assembly Resolutions on the events of 1 and 2 March in Yerevan.
In his statement following his visit, Mr. Puig urged the Armenian authorities to use every means available to them to release arrested people and expressed his concern about the continued pre-trial detention of a number of opposition leaders, contrary to the request of the Assembly. “This is an issue that should be urgently resolved in the coming weeks” he declared.
The PACE President stressed that the Armenian authorities should not wait until January to achieve tangible results on these two issues. It is important that the authorities send a clear signal to the Assembly of marked and irreversible progress before the next meeting of the Monitoring Committee in September.
The President said discussions in Armenia also revolved around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stressing that the conflict can only be resolved through peaceful means.
The President therefore expressed his full support for the efforts of the Minsk Group to resolve the conflict based on the principles of territorial integrity in accordance with international norms and principles. De Puig said the Assembly stands ready to assist Azerbaijan and Armenia to help find a lasting solution to this conflict.