AGO GROUP: ALLEGIANCE TO DEMOCRATIC VALUES OFTEN DEMANDS TOUGH APPROACHES

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.04.2008 14:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Prime Minister and President-elect Serzh
Sargsyan met today with delegation of AGO group led by Ambassador
Per Sjogren , the RA government’s press office reported.

"The AGO group includes ambassadors from 9 states.

This testifies of friendly attitude toward Armenia and interest of
the Council of Europe in cooperation with your republic," Mr Sjogren
said, assessing the process of Armenia’s integration into European
structures as friendly and constructive.

The Ambassador pointed out to progress in legislative sphere
and submitted some proposals based on European principles and
standards. "Allegiance to democratic values often demands tough
approaches. Our proposals are meant to ease tensions, establishment
of talks with opposition and restoration of popular consent," he said.

"We never rejected dialogue. We negotiated with various political
forces before the presidential election," Mr Sargsyan said, for his
part. "Although the Republican Party gained votes sufficient for a
sole government, a coalition was formed. The authorities will proceed
with reforms engaging various strata of society. Armenia will remain
true to the policy of European integration."

The President-elect answered a number of questions regarding struggle
against corruption, reforms, Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement
and perspectives of the Armenian-Turkish relations.