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The members of the delegation of the National Assembly to the OSCE PA took part in the works of the 30^th Annual Session of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) took part in Vancouver, Canada. The Head of the delegation of the RA National Assembly to the OSCE PA, the Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Sargis Khandanyan delivered a speech at the Meeting of the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security.

“Mr. Chair,

I want to thank Mr. Kasciunas you for drafting the report and the resolution.

Unfortunately, since the adoption of the Birmingham declaration the security situation in South Caucasus and around Armenia continues to deteriorate. The sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia suffered the brutal aggression by Azerbaijan in September 2022 resulting in occupation of the portions of our sovereign territory. This violence was stopped by the active engagement of the United States.

Daily Azerbaijan violates the ceasefire, shells the positions of the armed forces, civilian infrastructure, and civilian population in the bordering areas of Armenia. Recently, Azerbaijan has also started to target the economic development of my country shelling the metallurgical plant being built with the US investments.

Fortunately, now there is a mechanism on place registering the ceasefire violations and border tensions on Armenian side and reporting to a number of member countries of this assembly. I am talking about the European Union’s civilian monitoring mission deployed in Armenia for 2 years that aims to contribute to stability in the border areas for which I want to extend my gratitude to all EU members countries for agreeing to deploy the mission and especially Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia for their active engagement in advocating for this decision.

The same mechanism was offered to Azerbaijan as well by the European Union, but Azerbaijan refused to accept it. Guess why? This fact clearly demonstrates who is the aggressor in this conflict.

Dear colleagues, as in other conflict contexts we clearly indicate who is the aggressor and who is the victim it is important to specify it in this context as well. It helps to address the issues and find solutions for them. The amendments that I proposed to this resolution serve this purpose.

I believe the parliamentary platform of the OSCE need to be more active in strengthening the role and engagement of the organization in our region,” Sargis Khandanyan underlined.