STEPANAKERT. – President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic National Assembly (NKR/Artsakh NA), Ashot Ghulyan, on Monday received a group of representatives from the Basque Country.
First, he thanked them for accepting the invitation to come to Karabakh and conduct an observation mission during Monday’s constitutional referendum.
Former European Parliament member (MEP) Iñaki Irazabalbeitia Fernández, for his part, stressed that Artsakh and the Basque Country share the values of peace and democracy.
“We see real democracy and freedom of speech here [in Karabakh],” noted the former MEP.
European Free Alliance Bureau member Lorena Lopez de Lacalle, in turn, presented her observations during the referendum, and noted that she witnessed a functioning democracy.
“There are democratic elements and values here that are absent at us,” she stressed.
And secretary of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Basque Nationalist Party, José María Etxeberria, underscored the experience he gained these days in Artsakh.
“The important thing is stability in convictions and values, which you [i.e. the people of Artsakh] have,” he noted. “Despite so much hardships and losses, you have not lost your identity, and you control your destiny. We stand ready to help you in protecting the right of self-determination.”
Summing up the results of this talk, speaker of the NKR parliament assessed further cooperation with the Basque Country as promising.
