WAS FEBRUARY 19 A STEP FORWARD?

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Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian held his first press conference on June 4.Before answering reporters' questions Nalbandian shook hands with all reporters. The main topic of the news conference was the Karabakh conflict considering that the upcoming important event for Armenia is the Sarkissian-Aliyev meeting scheduled for June 6 in St. Petersburg.

“We connect hopes with the meeting in the regard that it is the first meeting between the new President of Armenia and the Azerbaijani President. It will be a familiarization meeting not only with regard to personal acquaintance, but also the approaches, positions and philosophy of the two parties. We hope that the meeting will yield positive results, i.e. the sides will declare they are ready to continue the negotiations,” RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told a press conference today.

According to the Minister, the suggestions presented by the Co-Chairs in Madrid form a basis for talks, and Armenia is ready to continue the peace process based on those. “Azerbaijan must also be ready to continue the negotiations on the basis of these proposals,” the Minister noted. In response to the some statements of the Azeri side that there is no document on the table, the Foreign Minister said the document exists and is registered in the OSCE in Vienna. “In reality, these proposals are registered in the form of a document,” Minister Nalbandian noted. According to him, the proposals are the result of long efforts of the Co-Chairs and the conflicting parties.

Edward Nalbandian underlined that we should refrain from any step that can hamper the talks. Currently the negotiations are in a stage when we should be cautious not to disturb these in any manner, not to pour oil on the flames, especially if some structures are not familiar with the process, they should be more cautious in their comments and statements.

The Minister noted that the Azerbaijani side rarely notes it’s ready to continue the peace process. There are many more threats on different levels in Baku that the issue may be solved in a military way. “the Karabakh issue must be solved in a peaceful way: there is no alternative to negotiations, the statements about the military solution are a result of impermissible way of thinking,” Minister Nalbandian said.

WAS FEBRUARY 19 A STEP FORWARD?

“The presidential election of February 19 was a step forward compared with the previous ones,” RoA FM Edward Nalbandian told a press conference today.

With regard to an international response, especially to the U.S. State Department’s assessment, which report cases of ballot stuffing and violence, Edward Nalbandian said, “The OSCE/ODIHR observation mission involved delegates from different countries. The report also includes assessments of progress. The shortcomings are taken into consideration, and we are working toward improving the election process and organizing the next election better.

We do not tend to think that there is no shortcoming. If there is a shortcoming, we take it into consideration. The most important is how we are going to eliminate those shortcomings,” Edward Nalbandian says.

In reply to A1+’s question which shortcomings and progress Edward Nalbandian noticed during the presidential election, the foreign minister said, “I am not a specialist of an electoral legislation. Statements about elections are found in international reports which are available.”

The Armenian FM added that the government is making efforts to improve the state of human rights and freedoms, democracy in Armenia, and not because it is stipulated by the international organizations but because Armenia needs it.

Edward Nalbandian thinks that the international recommendations about political will to improve the situation are directed not only at the government, but also at all the political forces and the citizens in general. Everyone must display political will to improve the situation, Edward Nalbandian stated.

Asked whether the March 1 events will affect the country’s reputation worldwide, Nalbandian said, “It is everyone’s problem to turn the page of March 1, the painful events not to allow them to affect the foreign policy of Armenia, including the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.