National imperatives or European values?

26-05-2007 13:34:30 – KarabakhOpen

Member of Parliament Vahram Atanesyan, chair of the Committee on
External Relations, says the institution of political and public
debates needs to be established in the country.

With regard to the development of a civil society, Vahram Atanesyan
underlined: `The society seeks openness, pluralism. And this urge
becomes stronger day by day, becomes a way of life for young
people. However, the society which faces the European community cannot
be confined to the national ideology because Europe rejects it. If we
face Europe, if we say Europe must be ready for a dialogue with us, we
must be able to speak the language of the civilized world. So what do
we need? European democracy at the expense of our national
imperatives, or must we remain bearers of ethnic imperatives to the
detriment of freedom of speech, civil society, human rights?

I think we are facing this choice. It is possible that there is a
point where the national imperatives and European standards combine, I
don’t know. After all, the essence of European integration supposes
certain limitation of national sovereignty. For a country aspiring to
international recognition of its independence, it may be a
tragedy. But it is also a topic for debates we avoid.’