YEREVAN. – Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Wednesday met with President Herwig van Staa of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE). 

They discussed the priorities of Armenia’s newly-assumed chairmanship at the CoE Committee of Ministers, specifically concerning local democracy, Armenian MFA press service informs.  

Reflecting on the recent session of the Bureau of the aforesaid congress, which was held in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan, Herwig van Staa thanked the Armenian authorities for hosting this event and organizing it in the best way in Yerevan. The Congress president also underscored the holding of the international conference, titled “Participatory Democracy at Local Level,” which had started in Yerevan on the same day.      

Armenia’s deputy FM and the president of the CoE Congress of Local and Regional Authorities exchanged views on human rights, the rule of law, and local democracy in CoE member countries.      

Upon the request of Herwig van Staa, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan also reflected on the regional matters in South Caucasus.