ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN SHOULD USE FULLY THE POTENTIAL WHICH COUNCIL OF EUROPE
IS OFFERING IN THE PROCESS OF THE NAGORNO- KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

Oksana Musaelyan, ArmInfo, 11 October, 2006

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.