Armenia fulfilled main commitments of democratization assumed before CoE, says President

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Thanks to the political will and the joint constructive work with the Council of Europe, Armenia managed to overcome a lot of obstacles and achieve thorough reforms, President Serzh Sargsyan said during his speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), reports Armenpress.

“Last time I had an honor to deliver speech from this high tribute in 2013 when Armenia was chairing in the CoE ministers committee. This mission was a key destination in terms of our integration in this large family of the Council of Europe. I think we implemented it with an honor”, the President said.

He reminded that tomorrow, January 25, is the day when Armenia joined the CoE 17 years ago. “When we were joining this pan-European structure, we were fully understanding what path we should pass. We also understood that building and strengthening democracy without the assistance and direct participation of the CoE structures were not going to be easy. Thanks to the political will and joint constructive work it was really possible to overcome numerous obstacles and achieve thorough reforms.

Today, in this hall of the Assembly, I can proudly announce that we have fulfilled Armenia’s main commitments of democratization assumed before the Council of Europe. This is not only our claim. Our achievements in the establishment of democratic institutions have been declared in the reports of the CoE monitoring bodies. We are determined to the process of joining the pan-European legal system, and today the number of conventions signed by our country reaches 70. I would like to state that this is not just a process to fulfill our commitments for us, we first of all implement our beliefs and imaginations in this way. And we will continue this. Moreover, starting from April the pace of our country through reforms will receive innovation since during that time the constitutional reforms will completely come into force and secondly, we already launch the steps envisaged by the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement”, the President said.

He said each democracy is a living organism. “A quarter-century efforts of our statehood aimed at its nutrition. We understand very well that democracy always requires attention, reconsideration”, the President said, adding that the Council of Europe has provided comprehensive assistance for implementation of reforms.

“This process will be completed in April through a concrete vision of 3 pillars of the Council of Europe – rule of law, human rights and democracy. We have chosen the transition to the parliamentary form of governance as the best way of strengthening democracy in our country. I launched this process from this high tribute in 2013”, the President said.