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On November 6, in the RA National Assembly the 2nd Working Meeting of the Secretaries General of Parliamentary Administrations of the Eastern Partnership Countries began, where the Secretaries General of the parliaments of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, representatives from the Administrations and the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) took part.

The opening remarks by the RA NA Chief of Staff-Secretary General Ara Saghatelyan is here .

The RA NA President Ara Babloyan made welcoming remarks. See the complete speech here .

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Bernhard Matthias Kiesler thanked the Parliament of Armenia for the organisation of the meeting, wishing the participants effective work and close cooperation. The speaker has noted that the parliaments of the Eastern Partnership Countries, irrespective of independent government, have the same problems and the effective implementation of parliaments’ functions is also conditioned by the activities of the Administration. According to the Ambassador, the Administrations of the Parliaments provide the deputies, the Standing Committees with substantial and high qualified information and in this aspect the improvement of the abilities of the Staffs through the exchange of experience of the countries. According to him, the Government of Germany cooperates with the Eastern Partnership Countries, supporting not only the projects aimed at the improvement of the Parliamentary Administrations, but also the implementation of the reforms in a number of spheres.

The Secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia Givi Mikanadze conveyed the greetings and wishes of the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze. He has underlined the efficiency of the platform, noting that the initiative gives an opportunity to study the best experience of the Parliamentary Administrations, as well as the common challenges and their solutions.

The Secretary General of the Parliament of Moldova Ala Popescu touched upon the inter-parliamentary cooperation, the activation of the cooperation in the international structures and the expansion of the ties between the Administrations. She highlighted the creation of the Research Centre of the Eastern Partnership Countries’ parliaments.

The Secretary General of the Parliament of Ukraine Petro Bodnar thanked the National Assembly of Armenia for the warm reception, and the GIZ for the support and wished the participants effective work. He has stated that Ukraine is at the stage of reforms and in recent period important changes have been made in the Administration of the Verkhovna Rada and new democratic approaches have been invested. Petro Bodnar has underscored that today’s meeting is a step to deepen the cooperation in the frameworks of Tbilisi Memorandum.

Hrachik Yarmaloyan, National Coordinator in GIZ Project “Strengthening the Parliamentary Administration in the Eastern Partnership Countries” talked about the preparation of the “Winter Academy.” In February 2019 in Tbilisi training courses on Research and Analytical Works in Parliaments is designed to conduct. It will be of practical direction, and exchange of experience will be held. The project will be conducted with the close cooperation of the European Parliament and the German Bundestag.

Hrachik Yarmaloyan also presented the events to be held during January-June 2019 with the close cooperation of the Eastern Partnership Countries’ Parliaments. The speaker has noted that the representatives of the Parliamentary Administrations of the Eastern Partnership Countries visited the German Bundestag every year to get acquainted with everyday work of the latter’s Administration during one-week period. This year the regular visit will also take place.

According to Hrachik Yarmaloyan, in May 2019 in Batumi a workshop on the development of the capacities of the Parliamentary Administrations will be organized, as well as a workshop on the theme Parliamentary Oversight in summer in Tbilisi.

The representative of Georgia proposed the participants to make the meetings more frequent, having an appropriate website in the network.

The participants agreed that every decision should be made by mutual consent.

By autumn 2019, the Chairmanship of the Organization will assume Georgia.

A decision was made to hold the next meeting in May of the coming year in the city of Lvov, Ukraine.

This Meeting will continue on December 7.