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On May 16, the NA Deputy Speaker Hermine Naghdalyan met with the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Javier Nart.

Welcoming the guest Mrs Naghdalyan has expressed conviction that the European Union has been and remains one of the important partners of Armenia and added that the RA cooperation with the EU is based, first of all, on the system of common values, and our country is resolute in deepening and expanding of relations.

The NA Deputy Speaker touched upon the RA-EU relationship, expressing hope that the negotiation process on the new agreement will end as quick as possible. She noted that debates had already been held over the political and sphere cooperation of the future agreement and expressed confidence that the result reached during the previous negotiations will be used during the debates of the new agreement.

Hermine Naghdalyan has highlighted the role of the parliaments in the development of Armenia-EU relations, noting that the parliamentary format is the platform which gives opportunity to hold free and sincere debates on the issues of bilateral interest. In this context the NA Deputy Speaker emphasized the cooperation within the framework of Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. She has opined that this format of cooperation gives opportunity to debate issues regarding the region.

Mrs Naghdalyan touched upon the current situation in Nagorno Karabakh, the large scale war operations unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Nagorno Karabakh (NK). She underlined that during those days Azerbaijan had violated provisions of international human rights and Geneva Convention: the bodies of 18 Armenian servicemen handed by Azerbaijan were tortured and blasphemed. Mrs Naghdalyan has underscored that those atrocities have been committed in the style of ISIS, which proves the information that there are mercenaries in the Azerbaijani armed forces from Iraq and Syria. It has been noted that Armenia has undertaken to give internationally acknowledged legal assessment and process of making accountable Azerbaijan within the framework of the international legal norms.

In the course of the meeting the sides also referred to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In Hermine Naghdalyan’s word, after 101 years the commemoration of the Genocide victims and the condemnation of the Genocide is more than topical, as in our days the danger of the repetition of genocides exists. She has stressed that all these manifestations are consequences of non-recognition of the Genocide and not giving appropriate assessment.

“We expect from the international community targeted strong condemnation of such actions and call on them to restrain the murderous policy of Azerbaijan and Turkey and back the right and security of Nagorno Karabakh people’s life and the security, by that promoting the settlement of the conflict exclusively through peaceful means, directed to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and the establishment of stability in the region, said Mrs Naghdalyan.

The NA Deputy Speaker proposed Mr Nart to visit the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to have better picture of the history of the Karabakh conflict.

During the meeting Javier Nart talked about the NK conflict, the protection of human rights, the independence and fairness of the judicial system, the regional problems and other issues of bilateral interest. The guest highlighted the expansion of mutual cooperation between the European Parliament and Armenia.