RA NA Speaker received the newly appointed head of the OSCE Yerevan office.

On February 16 the RA National Assembly Speaker Samvel Nikoyan received Andrey Sorokin, the newly appointed Head of Yerevan Office of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Congratulating Mr Sorokin on the occasion of his appointment, the NA Speaker stressed the good traditions of cooperation with the former leadership of the OSCE Yerevan Office, expressing confidence that they will deepen and expand later. Mr Nikoyan especially highlighted the cooperation in the law-making sphere, over the protection of human rights, political freedoms and ecology. The NA Speaker touched upon the RA inner-political situation, electoral processes and the existing legislative field. In his word, Armenia has an Electoral Code consonant with international standards, and now one of the prior problems is to hold the upcoming parliamentary elections in compliance with the letter of the law and international standards. It is less important, according to Mr Nikoyan, to decently present all that to international community. In this respect the NA Speaker greatly emphasized the role of the OSCE, other international observation missions, expecting unbiased assessments from them.

Mt Nikoyan also introduced him the proposal made by him during the ongoing hearings in the NA on the previous day: create a body composed of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary forces within the framework of the authorities of the National Assembly and the Speaker of the National Assembly, which will follow the use of the law, electoral processes.

Thanking for the warm reception Mr Sorokin noted that he was impressed of the effective activity of the OSCE Yerevan Office, close cooperation with the RA state instances, in particular, the National Assembly, as well as political forces and NGOs. Presenting his impressions, Mr Sorokin has noted that the resoluteness of holding the elections in compliance with international standards is evident, which is appraisable. Welcoming also the NA Speaker’s proposal of shaping a representation body composed of different forces, the Head of the OSCE Office has presented the programmes, which they are going to implement in future. He expressed willingness in the name of the leadership and him to support all the programmes of joint interest.