YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. The President of the National Assembly of Armenia Ara Babloyan received on November 2 Snežana Samardžić-Marković, Director General for Democracy of the Directorate General (DG) of the Council of Europe, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia.

Welcoming the guest, Ara Babloyan highlighted the cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Council of Europe, particularly on the establishment of democracy, protection of human rights and fighting corruption.

In the word of the President of the National Assembly of Armenia, as a result of the end of the first phase of the joint programme Partnership for Good Governance (PGG) four national programmes were implemented in Armenia, recording the readiness of our country to carry out the designed initiatives.

Ara Babloyan, touching upon the processes following the Constitutional reforms, has noted that Armenia takes the path of democracy, distinctly being differentiated from a number of countries, aspiring decentralization of the power and making transition into parliamentary system of government.

The President of the Armenian parliament stated that being an EEU member state, Armenia is ready for open and unconstrained cooperation with different countries of the world.

The Head of the parliament has touched upon the draft law on Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of the Persons Subjected to Domestic Violence, highlighting the awareness of the public on the bill, as often people have no full picture what the thing is about.

Snežana Samardžić-Marković thanked Ara Babloyan for the reception, emphasizing the cooperation of Armenia with the CoE. Ms Samardžić-Marković agreed with Ara Babloyan’s opinion that Armenia really differs from a number of the countries of the region, recording considerable progress in democracy and protection of human rights and impressing the European colleagues.

Underlining the importance of the draft law on of Domestic Violence and Protection of the Persons Subjected to Domestic Violence, Ms Samardžić-Marković expressed hope that it would be passed by the National Assembly of Armenia.

At the end of the meeting the interlocutors talked about the issues on protection of the children’s rights and prevention of violence in the EU countries and Armenia.