YEREVAN. – Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received President Herwig van Staa of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE).

Herwig van Staa has arrived in Armenian capital city Yerevan to attend the international conference, titled “Participatory Democracy at Local Level,” that will be held Wednesday and within the framework of Armenia’s newly-assumed chairmanship at the CoE Committee of Ministers.  

“We assumed the chairmanship, and we should do the utmost and be able to record successful and effective developments during this six-month chairmanship,” the PM said in his welcoming remarks.  

In his turn, Herwig van Staa thanked for holding the aforesaid international conference in Yerevan, the Armenian Government press service informs. Also, he gave a high assessment to Armenia’s steps toward the development of the local self-government system in the country.  

The interlocutors exchanged views on the development of local democracy and discussed the avenues for raising the effectiveness of local self-governance. 

PM Sargsyan underscored the need to study the positive track-record in the CoE member countries, and noted that local democracy is a priority of Armenia’s chairmanship at the CoE Committee of Ministers.