OSCE CIO ENVOY CALLS ON RA AUTHORITIES TO LIFT EMERGENCY RULE
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.03.2008 19:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ambassador Heikki Talvitie, the special envoy of
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, called today on the Armenian authorities
to lift the state of emergency and engage in a dialogue with the
opposition to resolve tensions following unrest after the 19 February
presidential elections.
He said that it was in the interest of the government of Armenia to
act now to resolve the crisis.
"The inauguration of the elected president is approaching. In this
situation, I think that the government should get rid of its state of
emergency and start a real political dialogue with the opposition,"
he said, briefing the OSCE Permanent Council following two recent
visits to Armenia.
He noted that the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister
Ilkka Kanerva, had appealed to the parties to use political dialogue
to resolve the crisis.
On the frozen conflict in the Transdniestra region of Moldova, he
said that the Finnish Chairmanship was trying to restart negotiations
under the existing formats and that he was "lightly optimistic"
about the outcome of those efforts.
"If we are going to proceed (with negotiations), it needs further
engagement from the Chairman-in-Office and myself," he said. "We
should pay attention to the current momentum and do our best to get
the process moving."
The Permanent Council is an OSCE decision-making body, chaired by
the country holding the OSCE’s annually rotating Chairmanship –
this year, Finland.