RA National Assembly President Crticised His Colleague

• 02.09.2016, 21:50
•  Armenia

On February 8, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Galust Sahakyan received the Delegation headed by the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Maja Gojkovic that arrived in Armenia on an official visit.

Welcoming the guests in the Armenian Parliament, Galust Sahakyan has noted that though the Armenian-Serbian relations have history of many years based on mutual benevolence and support, however the fact of backing the anti-Armenian two Resolutions in the PACE last session by almost all members of the Serbian Delegation was a surprise for Armenia, what, in the RA NA Speaker’s word, contradicts the spirit of the years-old friendly relations of our countries, as well as the official position of Serbia on Karabakh problem. Galust Sahakyan considered necessary the formation of the active dialogue between the parliaments of the two countries and noted that in that way, perhaps, it would be possible to settle the situation created as a consequence of voting of the Serbian Delegation.

Touching upon the regional problems, the Speaker of the National Assembly has noted that one of the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy is the Nagorno Karabakh problem, the solution of which Armenia sees in the framework of format accepted by the international community – within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. "Despite the fact that Azerbaijan in all ways tries to impede the peaceful settlement of the problem, we will continue to adhere our position of solving the conflict through negotiations, not giving in the provocations of the opposite side," Sahakyan underlined.

In response Maja Gojkovic expressed hope that Serbia will soon have a new parliamentary delegation after the parliamentary elections, and that delegation will be able to cooperate more effectively with the delegation of Armenia.

Apparently, having a territorial loss on behalf of Kosovo, Serbia considers Azerbaijan a country sharing the same fate, and the delegation members believe that while struggling against separatism they should defend Azerbaijan. Probably they see Walter and Markovic reports from that very point of view.

Armenia, on the contrary, defends the right of self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, considering that the international norm of self-determination prevails the norm of territorial integrity. Armenia has not joined the dozens of countries that have recognized Kosovo's independence, and continues to protect Serbia's territorial integrity. In this sense, Armenia could expect that Serbian parliamentarians should keep complementarity at least on important issues for Armenia.

However, referrimg to the countries’ foreign priorities, the President of the National Assembly of Serbia noted that currently Serbia is actively implementing the EU integration policies, and that in her opinion, the exchange of integration experiences will be beneficial for both sides, considering the fact that Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Union and at the same time attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with the European Union.

Maja Gojkovic highlighted the importance of high-level mutual visits and expressed hope that the President of Armenia will visit the Republic of Serbia which will provide an opportunity to discuss the interparliamentary relations as well.

President Serzh Sargsyan said that he was accepting the invitation of his colleague to visit Serbia with pleasure. He underscored that Armenia is open and sincere in its relations with Serbia, is interested in deepening the interstate relations in the atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation.