On May 25, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Ara Aivazian received the Director of the Office of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Verena Taylor and the newly appointed Head of the Council of Europe Office in Armenia Martina Schmidt.
Expressing gratitude for the meeting, Director of the Office of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Martina Schmidt handed over to the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia the original letter of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the appointment of the Head of the CoE Office in Yerevan.
The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia congratulated Martina Schmidt on assuming the important mission of the Head of the Office of the Council of Europe in the Republic of Armenia, expressing confidence that new achievements will be marked through continuous cooperation with the relevant departments of the Republic of Armenia.
Speaking about the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s membership in the Council of Europe, Ara Aivazian highlighted the importance of the rich agenda of cooperation with the Council of Europe, emphasizing the importance of the Armenia-CoE Action Plan 2019-2022 for the ongoing implementation of reforms and the strengthening of democracy in the country.
The Foreign Minister of Armenia touched upon the situation in Artsakh resulting from the recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan. In this context, Ara Aivaziam noted that the Republic of Armenia highlighted the significant role of the Council of Europe in addressing humanitarian issues in Artsakh, including deportation, destruction of cultural and religious monuments, ongoing hostage-taking of prisoners of war and civilians in Azerbaijan, as well as protection of inalienable human rights in ensuring their full exercise.
The Acting Foreign Minister drew the interlocutors’ attention to the need to ensure unimpeded access of the relevant representatives of international specialized organizations to Artsakh, including the bodies of the Council of Europe, emphasizing the inadmissibility of Azerbaijan’s obstruction in this regard. The Acting Minister specifically emphasized the implementation of interim decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on Armenian prisoners of war.
