YEREVAN. – The year 2017 was tense for Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), head of the Armenian delegation to PACE Arpine Hovhannisyan told Armenian News- NEWS.am.

According to her, 2017 was tense because several draft resolutions and documents, specifically concerning Armenian interests, were circulated in the PACE.

The delegation managed to neutralize the threats to Armenia, said Hovhannisyan, adding that it is impossible to completely avoid such situations because the Assembly is full of contradictory political interests.

According to her, the Armenian delegation to PACE will act in a more flexible manner and will change its tactics based on a specific situation and political agenda to effectively protect Armenian interests in this organization.

 “We are actively involved in the discussion of general agenda, which is extremely important, since other members of the European family can be interested in the agenda of ther members in this way,” said Arpine Hovhannisyan.

According to the head of PACE, it is planned to improve the human rights situation in Armenia with European partners in 2018.

“We will also continue to cooperate with European Council and our EU partners in the coming year. In this regard, I would like to note that Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, signed in November, 2017, provides for new prospects of cooperation to facilitate democratic institutions, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms,” she said.

Asked about countering provocations of Azerbaijan in PACE, Arpine Hovhannisyan noted that provocations are a usual thing, but there are no such provocations that cannot be neutralized.