YEREVAN. – It was not impossible to reach an agreement on the decision to extend the mandate of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Tigran Balayan, told about the above-said to Armenian News-NEWS.am, as he reflected on the present-day status of this office.

“Armenia supports the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and constantly supports the latter, especially within the framework of the relevant decisions adopted at the OSCE.

“It is noteworthy that after the Azerbaijani authorities’ closing of the OSCE Office in Baku, the office in Yerevan is the sole OSCE full presence in South Caucasus. The role of the office in Yerevan is also appreciated by the OSCE Chairmanship, Secretariat, [and] other bodies of the organization as well as the absolute majority of the participating countries, except for one.

“As you know, the OSCE functions with the precept of consensus. And despite such broad support, it was not possible at the moment to reach an agreement on the decision to extend [the mandate of] the office in Yerevan. At present, the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship continues talks around an agreement on the draft decision; and Armenia, as the country hosting the office, is a part of these consultations.

“Since the talks continue, we do not consider it appropriate at this time to present the details of the consultations,” Balayan stated.