Yesterday, the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, received a delegation led by the Co-President of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, Andrius Kubilius, which included representatives from Georgia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan.
The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly is an inter-parliamentary forum comprised of Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, aimed at increasing ties between its members and the EU. As part of the meeting, Pashinyan highlighted that Armenia’s relationship with the EU was an important one, specifically in accelerating democratic reform, which he said was a priority for his government. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on regional and international security and stability issues.
The Armenian PM presented Armenia’s position on regional developments, the unblocking of communication routes, the demarcation and delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and the dialogue between Armenia and Turkey. He also referred to the results of the French-EU mediated meeting in Brussels last December, and stressed the need to ensure the entry of the UNESCO mission into Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia and Azerbaijan have both accused each other of destruction and desecration of cultural heritage, and to this end, have agreed for a joint UNESCO mission to be sent to investigate.
While held within the framework of EU-Armenian cooperation, yesterday’s meeting is being hailed as significant because of the presence of Tahir Mirkishili and Soltan Mammadov, two Azerbaijani MPs. Discussing the meetings later in the day, Mirkishili noted that despite some difficulties in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, agreements had already been reached on certain issues, in particular in the opening of railway communications. He added that the meeting was held in a “positive atmosphere”, and that the visit should be taken “as another indicator of our country's goodwill for lasting peace”.