Your trusted source

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will hold a debate on “The honoring obligations and commitments by Armenia" on Wednesday 26 June.

The report will be presented by co-rapporteurs Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland) and Boriana Åberg (Sweden).

"In this report, the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) assesses the honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia. It commends the country for pursuing an ambitious reform agenda in spite of a complex international environment challenging the stability of the country," the PACE said.

"The Monitoring Committee welcomes the reforms of the electoral legislation and the holding of three consecutive elections without serious irregularities and consider that the objective to hold genuinely democratic elections has to a large extent been achieved. At the same time, it regrets that these improvements have not helped to reduce the political polarisation and call on the majority and opposition parties to explore ways to create cross-party consensus.

"The committee welcomes the continuous efforts to improve the independence of the judiciary and to fight systemic corruption and encourages Armenia to pursue its efforts to further bring legislation, institutions and practice in line with European standards in the areas of human rights, the rule of law and democracy. It decides to pursue the monitoring procedure and will attach particular importance to the implementation of reforms regarding the justice system, and in the fields of media and freedom of expression," the Assembly added.