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  • Armenia And Azerbaijan Should Use Fully The Potential Which Council

    ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN SHOULD USE FULLY THE POTENTIAL WHICH COUNCIL OF EUROPE
    IS OFFERING IN THE PROCESS OF THE NAGORNO- KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

    Oksana Musaelyan, ArmInfo, 11 October, 2006

    Exclusive interview of the Special Representative of the Secretary
    General of the Council of Europe in Armenia Ms. Bojana Urumova
    to ArmInfo.

    2007 and 2008 are the years of parliamentary and presidential elections
    in Armenia. How does the Council of Europe intend to assist Armenia
    in building capacity for free, fair and democratic elections? Will
    the Organisation send an Observation Mission?

    The Council of Europe's advisory body on electoral legislation, the
    Venice Commission, has been cooperating with the Armenian partners
    on the amendments to the Electoral Code. Proper implementation of
    this law will be one of the necessary conditions for free and fair
    elections. Apart from the work on revising the Electoral Code, the
    Council of Europe has planned activities designed to strengthen the
    capacity of the electoral administration and to help the media to
    ensure free, independent and unbiased coverage of the pre-election
    campaign and the elections themselves. As to the observation mission,
    the CoE has already participated in the observation of several
    elections in Armenia, and we expect that it will do so again for the
    forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

    The visit of co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Group, George Colombier
    and Mikko Elo, has just finished. How is the implementation of
    commitments and obligations towards the Council of Europe by the
    Armenian authorities assessed?

    Why is the expert assessment of the rapporteurs important?

    The main goal of the PACE co-rapporteurs was to assess the follow-up of
    the constitutional reform. To this end, they met with the authorities,
    opposition, media and civil society representatives, as well as foreign
    ambassadors, in order to create a complete and objective picture of
    the situation in Armenia.

    The next step for them is to draw up a full report, which will be
    presented to the PACE winter session in January next year. Reports
    prepared by PACE have two functions. First, they provide an assessment
    of fulfilment of the obligations to the Council of Europe, which a
    State assumes voluntarily when it joins the Organisation. Second,
    they provide a view from Europe, which can serve as a guide for
    further democratic development of the country.

    The resolution of the Nagorny-Karabagh conflict by peaceful means is
    the main accent in the commitments and obligations of Armenia. J-L
    Laurens, Director General of Political Affairs, made a statement in
    Yerevan that the Council of Europe must play its role to exclude a
    military solution of the conflict.

    Which measures does the Organisation plan to undertake for
    neutralisation of the war propaganda in Azerbaijan?

    When joining the Council of Europe, 5 years ago, Armenia and Azerbaijan
    made a firm commitment to resolve the conflicts exclusively by
    peaceful means.

    This was a major condition for the positive decision on their
    application for membership and I would add that this is a condition
    for any member state of the Council of Europe. This involves rejecting
    resolutely any forms of threats of use of force and settling any
    outstanding international border disputes according to the principles
    of international law, and abiding by the existing international
    treaties. Membership of the Council of Europe of Armenia and Azerbaijan
    was designed to help to establish the climate of trust needed for a
    solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Council of Europe has
    repeatedly declared its availability to work with the authorities of
    Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve this goal, bearing in mind that the
    OSCE Minsk Group has always been considered as the optimum framework
    for negotiating a peaceful settlement to this conflict. The Council
    of Europe can contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process by
    offering a forum for dialogue and reconciliation, which is the only
    way for neutralisation of hate speech. This has been the founding
    principle of the Organisation and it is at the heart of the PACE
    Resolution 1416 and Recommendation 1690. Armenia and Azerbaijan should
    use fully the potential which CoE is offering. The CoE has already
    facilitated meetings between civil society activists and political
    scientists from both countries.

    The Kyiv initiative, which is a regional project of cultural
    cooperation, also has the potential to be beneficial for social
    reconciliation.

    During the PACE spring session a resolution was adopted in which the
    Assembly called the CoE member-states to provide financial assistance
    in addition to the efforts of the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian
    authorities targeted at the solution of the refugees` problems. What
    is done for this measure?

    It is up to the States to act upon this resolution, and it is good
    that journalists are keeping this subject on the agenda.

    On 31 August the representatives of the Kiev Initiative held a meeting.

    Which activities are planned within the framework of the program?

    The Kyiv initiative has the potential to contribute to building mutual
    understanding and democratic stability in the South Caucasus and
    beyond. It is a programme of multilateral cooperation in the management
    of culture and cultural heritage, involving five States (Armenia,
    Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) as well as international
    organisations and NGOs. There are many interesting projects in this
    initiative: regional wine routes, cooperation in the audiovisual field
    (cinema policy), etc. A Pilot project already underway in Armenia is
    the urban rehabilitation project, which covers the towns of Ashtarak,
    Goris and Gyumri.
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