AVET ADONTS: PUBLIC OPINION FORMATION ONE OF KEY COMPONENTS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
ArmRadio.am
25.06.2007 13:38
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on European
Integration Avet Adonts said that an immense work is awaiting the
Committee. He noted that besides being a new structure in the National
Assembly, it is still the only official body in Armenia, the name of
which includes the expression "European integration."
The Chairman said the Committee will be engaged in bringing the
Armenian legislation to conformity with European standards and the
relations with the European Union, the Council of Europe and other
European organizations.
Avet Adonts said that in the fall the relations will the European Union
will get more active in the framework of the European Neighborhood
Policy Action Plan.
"It is a long-term program, which envisages the conformity of our
legislation with European standards in all directions, a serious and
great work is awaiting us in this sense," the Chairman said.
Mr. Adonts noted that "we are interested in deepening the political
dialogue and economic cooperation with the EU and its member states
and intend to expand the cooperation with the European Parliament both
within the Armenia – EU Interparliamentary Cooperation Commission and
through establishing direct ties with the committees and factions of
the European Parliament."
Avet Adonts said that the public opinion formation is one of the key
components of European integration.
"Without the formation of public opinion all the efforts of the
legislative and executive powers can remain ‘undigested’," the
parliamentarian said.
Speaking about Armenia-NATO relations, the Chairman of the Committee
said that "Armenia’s membership to the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) does not restrict the cooperation with NATO."
"Today Armenia is executing an Individual Partnership Action Plan with
NATO. It is a rather large program with distinct objectives. As for the
perspectives of Armenia’s cooperation with NATO, the issue of joining
the alliance is not on our foreign policy agenda. However, I’m sure
the perspectives of our relations must be broadly discussed among the
public, and the newly established NATO Information Centre in Yerevan
must be one of the main agents in this process," Avet Adonts said.