Armenia to fulfil commitments to Council of Europe by end of 2005 – minister

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
8 Apr 05

[Presenter] Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today held a meeting
with members of the commission coordinating the process of fulfilment
of Armenia’s commitments to the Council of Europe [CE].

The meeting discussed the process of fulfilment of Armenia’s
commitments to the CE and changes to the laws on elections, political
parties, local governments, human rights, media and others.

[Correspondent] Members of the commission informed the president that
the drafts of amended laws have been sent to the Venice Commission of
the Council of Europe. A positive answer is expected and the process
will be completed then.

[Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan] The meeting assessed the
results of the fulfilment of Armenia’s commitments to the CE. I want
to say that the processes under way today were positively rated by the
participants. We can divide these processes into two categories. The
first are the processes related to constitutional reforms and the
second are other issues, for example, the electoral code, the law on
political parties and so on.

[Correspondent] The Armenian president said that constitutional reforms
should not be slowed down and noted that a final option should be
agreed upon.

[Oskanyan] If everything is okay, Armenia will fulfil its commitments
to the CE by late 2005. I think this will be a positive achievement
for Armenia both in the CE and in the region.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress