Head of the Armenian delegation to the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly of the Eastern Partnership, Artak Zakaryan, along with the head of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, Samvel Farmanyan, on Friday sent a letter to President of the European Parliament, Mr Antonio Tajani.
Armenian News – NEWS.am learnt the aforementioned from the Facebook page of the Head of the Armenian parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, Artak Zakaryan.
The officials have also sent a letter to the members of the Bureau of the EURANET Parliamentary Assembly, EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, heads of all the political groups of the European Parliament, as well as the leadership of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs in connection with declaring international search for the European Parliament MEPs Frank Engel (Luxembourg), Eleni Theocharous (Cyprus,) and Jaromír Štětina (Czech Republic), who were on an observation mission during the constitutional referendum held in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian representatives noted that as a result of the unacceptable policy conducted by Azerbaijan recently the MEPs have found themselves in a situation where not only their mandate is restricted but also where their freedom is threatened. The letter stresses that this step is nothing but a new threat aimed against democratic and pan-European values.
It is important that such treatment by Azerbaijan receive harsh criticism by the international organizations, the letter reads.
Furthermore, the MPs stressed that tolerating such policy conducted by Azerbaijan has resulted in that country making decisions not only within its borders but also beyond them. In this context, special reference was made to the renowned blogger Lapshin’s case, which, according to them, must have served as an alarm for condemning such policy and taking relevant steps against it.
Moreover, Zakaryan and Famanyan expressed hope that such an unacceptable and cynical policy conducted by Azerbaijan will receive adequate response from the relevant interparliamentary institutions.
Earlier, Azerbaijani media reported, citing the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan, that, purportedly, the aforementioned three MEPs were wanted—through Interpol—for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh to conduct an observation mission during Monday’s constitutional referendum there.