Exclusive interview of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Armenia Ms. Bojana Urumova to ArmInfo.
2007 and 2008 are the years of parliamentary and presidential elections in Armenia. How does the Council of Europe intend to assist Armenia in building capacity for free, fair and democratic elections? Will the Organisation send an Observation Mission?
The Council of Europe's advisory body on electoral legislation, the Venice Commission, has been cooperating with the Armenian partners on the amendments to the Electoral Code. Proper implementation of this law will be one of the necessary conditions for free and fair elections. Apart from the work on revising the Electoral Code, the Council of Europe has planned activities designed to strengthen the capacity of the electoral administration and to help the media to ensure free, independent and unbiased coverage of the pre-election campaign and the elections themselves. As to the observation mission, the CoE has already participated in the observation of several elections in Armenia, and we expect that it will do so again for the forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.
The visit of co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Group, George Colombier and Mikko Elo, has just finished. How is the implementation of commitments and obligations towards the Council of Europe by the Armenian authorities assessed? Why is the expert assessment of the rapporteurs important?
The main goal of the PACE co-rapporteurs was to assess the follow-up of the constitutional reform. To this end, they met with the authorities, opposition, media and civil society representatives, as well as foreign ambassadors, in order to create a complete and objective picture of the situation in Armenia. The next step for them is to draw up a full report, which will be presented to the PACE winter session in January next year. Reports prepared by PACE have two functions. First, they provide an assessment of fulfilment of the obligations to the Council of Europe, which a State assumes voluntarily when it joins the Organisation. Second, they provide a view from Europe, which can serve as a guide for further democratic development of the country.
The resolution of the Nagorny-Karabagh conflict by peaceful means is the main accent in the commitments and obligations of Armenia. J-L Laurens, Director General of Political Affairs, made a statement in Yerevan that the Council of Europe must play its role to exclude a military solution of the conflict. Which measures does the Organisation plan to undertake for neutralisation of the war propaganda in Azerbaijan?
When joining the Council of Europe, 5 years ago, Armenia and Azerbaijan made a firm commitment to resolve the conflicts exclusively by peaceful means. This was a major condition for the positive decision on their application for membership and I would add that this is a condition for any member state of the Council of Europe. This involves rejecting resolutely any forms of threats of use of force and settling any outstanding international border disputes according to the principles of international law, and abiding by the existing international treaties. Membership of the Council of Europe of Armenia and Azerbaijan was designed to help to establish the climate of trust needed for a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Council of Europe has repeatedly declared its availability to work with the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve this goal, bearing in mind that the OSCE Minsk Group has always been considered as the optimum framework for negotiating a peaceful settlement to this conflict. The Council of Europe can contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process by offering a forum for dialogue and reconciliation, which is the only way for neutralisation of hate speech. This has been the founding principle of the Organisation and it is at the heart of the PACE Resolution 1416 and Recommendation 1690. Armenia and Azerbaijan should use fully the potential which CoE is offering. The CoE has already facilitated meetings between civil society activists and political scientists from both countries. The Kyiv initiative, which is a regional project of cultural cooperation, also has the potential to be beneficial for social reconciliation.
During the PACE spring session a resolution was adopted in which the Assembly called the CoE member-states to provide financial assistance in addition to the efforts of the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities targeted at the solution of the refugees' problems. What is done for this measure?
It is up to the States to act upon this resolution, and it is good that journalists are keeping this subject on the agenda.
On 31 August the representatives of the Kiev Initiative held a meeting. Which activities are planned within the framework of the program?
The Kyiv initiative has the potential to contribute to building mutual understanding and democratic stability in the South Caucasus and beyond. It is a programme of multilateral cooperation in the management of culture and cultural heritage, involving five States (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) as well as international organisations and NGOs. There are many interesting projects in this initiative: regional wine routes, cooperation in the audiovisual field (cinema policy), etc. A Pilot project already underway in Armenia is the urban rehabilitation project, which covers the towns of Ashtarak, Goris and Gyumri.
Oksana Musaelyan, ArmInfo, 11 October, 2006