Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan today received co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia Kimmo Kiljunen and Boriana Aberg.

Greeting the guests, Alen Simonyan noted that this year marks the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s accession to the Council of Europe. He attached great importance to the cooperation with the Council of Europe, as well as the support of the organization in the process of the ongoing democratic reforms in our country. The work of the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee was highly evaluated. The parliamentary speaker underlined the importance of the political agenda for democratic reforms, affirming that Armenia would continue to move with that agenda.

During the meeting, issues related to the post-war realities, democracy in Armenia, human rights and legislative reforms were discussed.

Special importance was attached to the effective implementation of the 2019-22 Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia.

The co-rapporteurs informed that discussions were held with their colleagues of Armenia and set aside some priorities for cooperation.

The interlocutors touched upon the need for restoration of the negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Ideas were exchanged over journalists’ work in parliament. The parliamentary system of governance, as well as the current state of the authorities-opposition parliamentary format were touched upon.