Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly (NA) Hermine Naghdalyan, who is also the PACE Vice President the head of the Armenian delegation to PACE, on Monday attended the session of the PACE Monitoring Committee Sub-committee on Frozen Conflicts held in Helsinki, Finland.

The session agenda related to the 2017 Working Plan and methods, including, among other conflicts, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, conducting of a fact-finding mission there, etc.

Naghdalyan told the committee members that it is inappropriate to refer to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue during this fragile period, since this can have a negative impact on the mediation process, resulting in unprecedented developments.

“Such a method of work of the sub-committee is inefficient and fraught with negative consequences,” she said, recalling those present Point 7 of the PACE Charter on the activity of the Sub-committee on Frozen Conflicts, under which the sub-committee can carry out actions specifically pertaining to a conflict only when it has received the agreement of the member-states. 

As a result of the discussion, the Armenian delegation managed to make certain changes in the agenda. The committee thus decided to return to the agreement reached earlier, that is, the sub-committee should, guided by the stipulated terms of reference and in accordance with the prescribed working procedure, discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in late 2017, after prior agreement with co-rapporteurs.

The session of the PACE Monitoring Committee session also took place on Monday. During it, Vice President of the Monitoring Committee Naghdalyan chaired the discussion of issues related to Estonia and Ireland.