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On September 29, the RA NA Speaker Ara Babloyan received the OSCE PA Special Representative on the South Caucasus Kristian Vigenin.

Ara Babloyan welcomed Kristian Vigenin’s visit to Armenia, highlighting it within the framework of the visit to the South Caucasus countries. The RA NA Speaker expressed conviction that the OSCE representatives’ visits to the region would give an opportunity to get acquainted with the regional problems, and get an unbiased picture about them. In Ara Babloyan’s word, Armenia supports the OSCE position and called on his all colleagues to act according to the OSCE principles and international norms. The RA NA Speaker expressed regret that the OSCE Office terminated its activities in Yerevan, expressing hope that the organisation would find new ways for closely contacting and cooperating.

Touching upon the NK conflict settlement, the RA NA Speaker reaffirmed the position of Armenia, noting: “To us human being is a greatest value: everything is created around human being. The protection of human rights is also important. As a doctor, who has fought for saving the human lives, I am equally sorry for the young people from the both Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.”

The RA NA Speaker highlighted the right of the human beings to live secure and in peace, opining that the two peoples would like to establish peace and not to have victims on the line of contact. According to the RA NA Speaker, the NK conflict should be observed not only with respect of the regional, but also the human rights view, honouring Artsakh people’s right to self-determination and to live free.

Touching upon the ongoing reforms in Armenia, Ara Babloyan has noted that Armenia is the bearer of the European values, and ready to negotiate and have dialogues over the problems of the region.

The RA NA Speaker has noted that Armenia is ready to continue the cooperation with the OSCE and reopen the Office in Yerevan.

Kristian Vigenin thanked Ara Babloyan for the reception and also expressed regret with the relation to terminating the activities of the OSCE Offices. Mr Vigenin highly assessed the activities of the RA NA Delegation in the OSCE PA.

In the word of the OSCE PA Special Representative, the goal of his mission is to promote the dialogue between the countries of the region, the establishment and preservation of peace. He highlighted the role of the parliamentary diplomacy in the solution of the conflicts.

According to Mr Vigenin, the conflicts shall be solved through peaceful means, because not only the countries, but also the ordinary citizens pay high price for them.

Regarding the ongoing reforms in Armenia, Kristian Vigenin has noted that one of his goals must be to make Armenia recognizable not only by the NK conflict, but also as a country, where there is democratic progress, and constitutional reforms have been held.

At the end of the meeting Kristian Vigenin expressed hope that in the course of time it would be possible to restore the OSCE presence in Armenia, noting: “It will be fine to be created a situation, where it will not be necessary to have the OSCE presence in the region.”