Armenian President met newly elected Chairman of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and Secretary General of Council of Europe

ArmInfo. On January 23, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan arrived in Strasbourg to attend the January session of the PACE. The program of the President of the Republic of Armenia began with a meeting with the newly elected Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Michele Nicoletti. According to the press service of the president, Sargsyan left a record in the "Golden Book" of PACE that he is greatly honored in the Council of Europe, as this structure always stands for the protection of human rights. The President also noted that the 17th anniversary of Armenia's accession to PACE will soon take place. "Faced with problems in the region and beyond, the Council of Europe and PACE should speak the same language in the name of our unity and authority," wrote the head of the Armenian state. Then the President of Armenia met with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland. Prior to this, the president attended the signing ceremony of a number of CE conventions. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian signed the documents. These documents supplement about seven dozen international treaties signed by Armenia within the framework of the Council of Europe. President of Armenia and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland summed up the results of the meeting with statements to the media. In his statement, the head of the Armenian state in particular noted that he considers his visit to be symbolic, since on January 25, 17th anniversary of Armenia's accession to the Council of Europe is celebrated. And over the past 17 years, the country has achieved remarkable results in strengthening democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and the Council of Europe has a significant contribution to this process. Serzh Sargsyan noted that he had a conversation with Jagland and the parties came to the conclusion that in the last decade complex reforms were implemented in Armenia to ensure basic freedoms, more open and effective management and a dynamic civil society. Sargsyan also noted that Armenia is gradually moving to a parliamentary form of government, and in accordance with the new Constitution will continue comprehensive legislative reform in cooperation with the Venice Commission and the independent monitoring committees of the Council of Europe. Also during the meeting, issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were discussed. "I thank Jagland for supporting the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, which is of great importance for the facilitation of the negotiation process." I again supported the Secretary-General's view that Europe should not be "gray areas" in the field of human rights protection, which means that the Council Europe should equally respect the rights of citizens living in conflict zones, guided by the status of "neutrality", the Armenian President stated. The sides also agreed that the Council of Europe is the sphere of human rights protection, and the settlement of the conflict should be handled by structures that have an internationally agreed mandate for the settlement of this conflict. "We are convinced that dialogue is the key to solving the problems facing our organization, and in this dialogue the voice of all member states will be heard in order to ensure the integrity and unity of the Council of Europe," said Serzh Sargsyan. Serzh Sargsyan invited Thorbjorn Jagland to Armenia.