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On February 14 the delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus had meetings with the Armenian parliamentary representatives in the European structures. The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Belarus to Armenia Stepan Sukhorenko was also taking part in the meetings.

Vahan Hovhannisyan, Head of the NA delegation in the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly of the Eastern Partnership and Viktor Guminsky, Deputy Speaker of the RB NA House of Representatives discussed the possibility of cooperation within the Eastern Partnership and especially in the parliamentary dimension. According to Vahan Hovhannisyan, all the members of the Armenian delegation in the Assembly defend the full representation of all the Eastern 6 countries in the EURONEST. Stemming from this principle, the Armenian parliamentarians have been against the adoption of the anti-Belarus Resolution, voting against the document presented at the second plenary sitting. The Speaker informed those present about the coming works of the structure, noting that after a week the visiting sitting of the Committee on Social Affairs, Education Culture and Civil Society of the EURONEST will be held in Yerevan .

Mr Guminsky, in the face of the Head of the Armenian delegation, thanked Armenia for constructive position, characterizing it also friendly. The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives has expressed regret in connection with double standards being used towards Belarus, noting that his country is ready to cooperate within the Eastern Partnership and making proposals on the equal partnership bases. He has noted that the economic cooperation with the EU countries is very active, the problems are of political character.

The interlocutors also touched upon the political, economic, military and public cooperation. Hrayr Karapetyan, Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the two parliaments also took part in the meeting.

On the same day Aram Safaryan, Head of the RA NA delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE), received the delegation of the RB NA Belarus-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation.

Thanking for the warm reception Viktor Guminsky highly appreciated the Armenian and Belarus partners’ mutually beneficial cooperation in different international structures, in particular in the OSCE PA and the positions shown in different discussions. He expressed hope that the existing mutually beneficial relations between the delegations of the two countries would more develop and be continuous.

Welcoming the guests Aram Safaryan assessed simple and transparent the cooperation and positions of the Armenian and Belarus delegations in different international structures, noticing that it is based on honesty. In Mr Safaryan’s word, the Armenian and Belarusian counterparts effectively cooperate not only within the OSCE PA, but also in CSTO frameworks, and he thinks that it is necessary to continue.

In the course of the meeting issues concerning the further cooperation in the international structures were discussed.

The Head of the RA NA OSCE PA delegation referred to the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in Armenia in May and proposed them to carry out observation mission in the name of the RA NA Speaker Samvel Nikoyan and the OSCE PA Armenian delegation. He has stressed that all the NA factions are concerned about implementing free, fair and transparent elections.

The Co-Chair of the RB NA Belarus-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation wished success and new achievements in the upcoming elections.

On the same day Naira Zohrabyan, Co-Chair of the Armenia-European Union Palriamentary Committee on Cooperation met with Belarusian Delegation of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the National Assemblies of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Belarus.

In the course of the meeting the Belarusian delegation raised issues concerning the Belarus problem in the international structures, expecting the support of the Armenian delegations. Touching upon the attitude formed towards some post-Soviet countries in the international structures, Naira Zohrabyan has noted that the use of double standards in those structures is inadmissible for her, recording that during the recent period such international prestigious structures, and the Council of Europe, obviously use double standards. Noting that there are problems connected with democracy, human rights in Belarus, Ms Zohrabyan has opined that in general, there are much more serious problems connected with human rights in Azerbaijan, towards which the PACE is rather loyal. And the reason of not touching upon the deep crisis of the existing democracy in Azerbaijan, according to Naira Zohrabyan, is that Azerbaijan can "buy its democracy with oil."

The parties also touched upon the inner-political situation and upcoming parliamentary elections.

As Ms Zohrabyan is the Deputy Chair of the EURONEST PA Political Committee , the guests have thanked her for supporting the problem of Belarus in the EURONEST PA.