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On December 11, the 64th Plenary Session of the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) began its work in Yerevan.
The parliamentary delegations of Armenia, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia and North Macedonia, as well as observers from various countries, PABSEC representatives and guests participated in the Session. The PABSEC Secretary-General Asaf Hajiyev, and representatives of Türkiye, Albania and Bulgaria took part in the discussions remotely.
The RA NA President, the PABSEC President Alen Simonyan, delivered an opening speech
At the first sitting of the Assembly the matters of the Procedure were discussed. After approving the Minutes of the 63rd Plenary Session of the General Assembly held in Tirana on May 14-15 and the Progress Report on the Parliamentary Assembly financial matters related to the 2025 Assembly Budget were discussed.
Afterwards, the BSEC Secretary-General Lazăr Comănescu presented the item on the activities of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, and the President of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSRDB) Serhat Köksal spoke about the activities of the Bank.
The main discussions were held within the framework of the report titled Unblocking of Borders as a Guarantee for Regional Development.
The Head of the RA NA delegation to PABSEC Babken Tunyan documented that the matter under debate is extremely important for our region, because our country has been under blockade for 30 years․
“The opening of borders will contribute to the improvement of Armenia’s economic activity through the activation of export and import, as well as regional communications. The opening of borders directly fits into the framework of the Crossroads of Peace initiative. We have presented this initiative to all our international colleagues and we can say with confidence that the attitude of everybody on the initiative is positive,” Babken Tunyan underscored and added that the opening of borders will also contribute to the improvement of infrastructure in the region, reducing export and import costs. The latter, in turn, will create wide opportunities not only for Armenia, but also for the other countries of the region, making Armenia an attractive transit country.
The rapporteur touched upon one more direction: Tourism can have a positive impact on the opening of borders.
“We don’t want to have a closed economy and closed borders with our neighbours,” the rapporteur documented, speaking about the risks in opening the borders.
Babken Tunyan reiterated the commitment of the Armenian side to strengthening regional economic cooperation as a cornerstone of our collective security strategy. “I am convinced that peace, as well as cooperation, are extremely important for economic development. On the other hand, the economic cooperation and integration are extremely important for lasting peace in the region” the Head of the Armenian delegation assured and expressed hope that it will be possible to overcome the challenges in the region with joint efforts
The representatives of Greece, Türkiye, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine also delivered speeches within the framework of the topic. The issues on the conflicts and humanitarian disasters across the world were discussed. The participants highlighted the peaceful resolution of conflicts and unblocking of borders in the region and in the whole world. The opening of borders was valued in terms of activation of trade turnover, business ties, development of tourism, infrastructure and boosting relations in a number of spheres.
The Head of the Turkish delegation Fatih Donmez, who was taking part in the sitting online, touched upon the normalization process of the relations between Armenia and Turkey, emphasized the opening of borders, reaffirmed that Turkey supports the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Head of the RA NA delegation to the structure Babken Tunyan also attached importance to the normalisation of the regional conflicts and expressed hope that the normalisation process of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be successfully completed, thus promoting the regional development.
Afterwards, within the scope of the agenda items was the discussion on the Legal Challenges of Refugees and Migration Flows in the BSEC Region, as well as the issue The Role of Parliaments in Strengthening the Protection of Cultural Heritage in the BSEC Member States. The perspectives of development of transport infrastructure as a means of development in the BSEC States were also discussed.
During the Session the representatives of the international organizations and parliamentary assemblies exchanged ideas on the numerous challenges of the BSEC region, the legal-political processes and the global economic situation. Reference was made to a number of negative phenomena resulting from climate change and ecosystem transformation, and the importance of joint efforts to overcome them. The efficiency of the cooperated work of the PABSEC with the international organizations within the framework of common interest was underlined. In this context the necessity of presenting joint initiatives was mentioned.
At the end of the Session a decision was made to hold the 65th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly in Azerbaijan in 2025. The rotating presidency was handed over from Armenia to Azerbaijan.
