Press Conference on the Euronest PA Third Plenary Session

At the press conference held on June 3 the Head of the Armenian Delegation of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (PA), members of the Delegation Karine Atchemyan, Hrant Bagratyan, Elinar Vardanyan and Naira Zohrabyan summed up their results of visit to Brussels on May 27-29.

Artak Zakaryan said that the members of the Delegation presented in the Committee on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy reports on regional security challenges in the Eastern Partner countries, in the Committee on Energy Security - on energy security in connection with energy market and harmonisation between the Eastern European partner and the EU countries , in the Committee on Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Civil Society – on combating poverty and social exclusion in the Eastern Partner Countries, and in Committee on Economic Integration – approximation of the national legislation of Eastern Partnership countries with EU legislation in the economic field..

The Head of the Delegation noted that a group of deputies from Azerbaijan, Georgia and European countries presented recommendations on all four reports, which had contradicted Armenia’s interests. Artak Zakaryan said that before the Euronest during the meeting of the EPP faction an agreement had been reached, according to which, they had taken back their recommendations.

According to Artak Zakaryan, at the last moment the Azerbaijanis entered a draft report in the agenda through the secretariat “Restriction of the Water Resources in Armenia and with that Threatening the Nature Protection of Azerbaijan.” It was noted that the Armenian Delegation had been against entering the item in the agenda and debating it, as Azerbaijan tried to use this platform for carrying out anti-Armenian campaign. Finally, the Armenian Delegation had succeeded to remove it from the debate and from the agenda of the plenary session.

The Deputy Chair of the Euronest Committee on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy Naira Zohrabyan underlined that Azerbaijan tried to use any circumstance for advancing the foreign political interest of its country. The deputy stressed that in pursuing the national interest the Armenian Delegation had been united, but there were items, where the members of the Delegation had voted stemming from the approaches of their political force.

The member of the Delegation Elinar Vardanyan said that the Azerbaijanis wanted to make appropriate any item under discussion to their interests; even the item under discussion had no relation to the territories and the conflict. It was noted that Azerbaijan had tried also to include its recommendations during the discussion of the resolution in the Committee on Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Civil Society, which related to the problem of poverty.

Artak Zakaryan informed those present that the nest, fourth plenary session of the Euronest will be held in Yerevan in the autumn of 2014.

The representatives of the Delegation also answered the journalists’ questions.