The Speaker of the RA Parliament and the Director General for Democracy of the Council of Europe discussed Armenia`s democratization issues
ArmInfo. On November 2, NA President Ara Babloyan received the Director General of Democracy of the Council of Europe Snezana Samardzic-Markovic.
Welcoming the guest, Babloyan stressed the importance of cooperation between the RA and the CoE, in particular in the field of democracy formation, human rights protection, and anti-corruption.
According to Babloyan, as a result of the completion of the first stage of the joint program "Cooperation for Effective Governance", four national programs have been implemented in Armenia that documented the readiness of the RA to implement the planned measures.
Referring to the processes that followed the constitutional reforms, he noted that Armenia is moving along the road of democracy, clearly differing from a number of countries in the region, striving for decentralization of power and implementing the transition to a parliamentary system of government. Babloyan stressed that Armenia, being a member of the EAEU, is ready to openly and freely cooperate with different countries of the world.
The head of parliament appealed to the draft law "On preventing family violence and protection of persons subjected to family violence", noting the importance of public awareness of the bill, since people often have no idea what they are talking about. Snezana Samardzic-Markovic thanked for the reception. She agreed with the speaker of the National Assembly that Armenia is indeed different from a number of countries in the region by significant progress in matters of democracy and human rights protection, which impresses the European partners.
Turning to regional developments, Ms. Samardzic-Markovic noted that Azerbaijan's behavior in recent times is indeed a matter of concern. Stressing the importance of the draft law "On preventing family violence and protecting persons subjected to domestic violence", she expressed hope that the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia will adopt the document.
At the end of the meeting, the interlocutors touched upon issues related to the protection of children's rights, prevention of violence in the CE and Armenia.