The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia hosted today a discussion on the Fifth Report on Armenia — submitted in accordance with the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities — along with representatives of the 11 national minorities represented in the Council of National Minorities of the Republic of Armenia, as reported the Department of News and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

“In her welcoming remarks, Head of the Department of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Karine Sujayan touched upon the steps that Armenia is taking to ensure protection of the rights of national minorities and that arise from the international documents on human rights protection and the special documents related to minorities, including the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. She attached importance to the institutional system ensuring protection of the rights of national minorities and particularly underscored the restructuring of the Council of National Minorities that entered into force upon the decision of the Prime Minister of Armenia on May 3, 2019.

Among the participants of the discussion was Armenia’s expert of the Advisory Committee for the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities Arayik Navoyan, who presented the Committee’s activities for preparation of the reports by states and implementation of those reports in the future.

During the meeting, the representative of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia touched upon the development of the bill of Armenia on national minorities, and this was followed by a thorough discussion on the draft report and a question-and-answer session.

The Council of Europe Office in Yerevan had helped organize the meeting,” the press release reads.