The delegation headed by Alen Simonyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, who is on a working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, held a meeting-discussion with the leadership of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and invited deputies, political and public figures.
The meeting began with a welcome address by René Klaff, head of the foundation’s international department, who highlighted the foundation’s work with Armenia, noting the satisfactory results recorded in the direction of democracy. The subsequent speech by the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia was devoted to the preservation of democratic values and the necessary steps to be taken in the direction of human rights and freedoms. Addressing those present, Alen Simonyan said that Armenia, as a bearer of democratic values, believes that freedom and responsibility are the preconditions of an open and democratic society.
“We parliamentarians, bearers of free speech, are also part of a democratic society. In the modern world, parliamentary diplomacy is an integral part of foreign policy. Its role in the development of interstate relations is also great,” he noted, adding that our country supports the values adopted by the foundation: personal freedom, freedom of choice, economic freedom and the rule of law.
Speaking about the mission Armenia has undertaken since the velvet revolution of 2018, the President of the National Assembly noted that the Armenian authorities want to change the quality of relations in a region, in an environment where it is no longer safe for us. Alen Simonyan specifically mentioned some important episodes related to the 44-day war and the subsequent events, emphasising the existence of destructive developments around Armenia and the Armenians of Artsakh.
The President of the National Assembly recalled that the right of the Armenians of Mountainous Karabakh to live in accordance with their own identity has always been violated both by Soviet and independent Azerbaijan and continues to be grossly violated to this day.
“On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan closed the only road connecting Mountainous Karabakh with Armenia and the outside world, the Lachin corridor, as a result of which 120 thousand residents found themselves in a de facto blockade. This action by Azerbaijan is a gross violation of the commitments undertaken by the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, and is part of Azerbaijan’s broad and systematic policy aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Alen Simonyan, emphasising that Azerbaijan does not even comply with the legally binding decision of the International Court of Justice. On March 5, three citizens were killed in Mountainous Karabakh by an Azerbaijani infiltration group. He noted that hours before the Naumann Foundation discussion, Azerbaijanis fired at Armenians engaged in agricultural work.
The head of parliament expressed gratitude to the German government for supporting the decision to deploy a long-term European Union monitoring mission in Armenia. Concluding his speech, he assured that Armenia comes forward with an agenda to open an era of peace in the region.
The speech of the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia was followed by questions from the participants, which mainly concerned the security and stability of the region, the targeted assessments and support given to Armenia and the Armenians of Artsakh by the international community, Armenia-Diaspora ties, and the interest shown by Armenian society in government-opposition relations and elections to local self-government bodies. The German partners were particularly interested in the progress of Armenian reforms and the public mood regarding their tangibility.
At the end of the meeting, the foundation’s leadership reaffirmed its readiness to support Armenia, which has a young but firm democracy.
