BAKU MAY CHANGE ITS MIND AT THE LAST MOMENT AND ATTEND EURONEST PA SESSION IN YEREVAN, ARMENIAN MP SAYS
by Ashot Safaryan
ARMINFO
Wednesday, February 25, 12:58
Baku may change its mind at the last moment and attend the Euronest
PA session in Yerevan, Artak Zakaryan, Head of the Armenian Parliament
Committee for Foreign Affairs, said at a conference on the Armenia-EU
relations.
Yet in early February, Head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to Euronest
Elkhan Suleymanov said Azerbaijan would boycott the Fourth Ordinary
Session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly due to take place in
Armenia from March 16 to 20. Azerbaijan protested the decision to allow
Armenia to host the event, accusing Europe of “shielding Armenia.”
Zakaryan believes that the session in Yerevan will not be affected
by Baku’s decision either to attend or boycott it. He recalled that
four reports on the European Neighborhood and EaP cooperation for
2014-2020 will be approved at the plenary meeting in Yerevan. “The
reports will cover such issues as communications in the EaP countries,
cultural dialogue, energy security, including new and alternative
sources of energy,” Zakaryan said.
According to him, it will be the first serious event as part of the
EaP since the election of the new European Parliament. “We anticipate
a more active dialogue at the level of parliaments and political
parties. I think, it is time to move forward from the relatively
passive point,” he said.