PACE APPROVED REPORT, BY ALMOST SOLID VOTE, ON FULFILLMENT OF
COMMITMENTS BY ARMENIA

Strasbourg, January 23. ArmInfo. The Parliament Assembly of the Council
of Europe has approved, by an almost solid vote: 32 votes "for" and
1 – "against", the report on fulfillment of commitments by Armenia,
presented by co-reporters Georges Colombier and Mikko Elo.

As ArmInfo special correspondent reports from Strasbourg, during
the debates on a draft resolution, the European parliamentarians
have highly appreciated the report quality and Armenia’s efforts in
fulfilling its commitments on the way of reforms implementation.

Nevertheless, the European parliamentarians noted that the monitoring
on fulfillment of commitments by Armenia will not be stopped, since,
in their opinion, "it is not enough to pass a law but also to assure
mechanisms for the law to function ". According to a Netherlands
parliamentarian, Leo Platvoyet, Armenia has made the first steps
forward on the way of reforming the legal system, the Electoral code
and granting of freedom to Mass Media. "However, still much is to
be done. Monitoring is not a punishment but a continuous process of
advising", L. Platvoyet said. Moreover, the European parliamentarians
underlined that adoption of this document is a preliminary examine
for Armenia, while the main examine will be a conduction of democratic
parliamentary elections in May, 2007.

In his turn, a French parliamentarian Francis Rochedloine, having
positively assessed the fulfillment of commitments by Armenia, noted
that despite the fact the Armenian state is very ancient, it has got
the independence only 15 years ago and it is unreal to require an
ideal compliance to the structure commitments. "As for the issue of
determining the status of Yerevan, the provisions of mechanisms of
election of the capital Mayor and other implemented reforms, France
had been working for two centuries to achieve the results Armenia
has achieved within 15 years of independence, and no one considered
the French Republic undemocratic", Francis Rochedloine.