On June 8, the Foreign Minister of Armenia received the delegation of the European Commission “Democracy through Law” (Venice Commission), headed by its President Claire Bazy Malaurie, who is in Armenia with the invitation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia.

Minister Mirzoyan noted that the visit of the President of the Venice Commission is a good opportunity to promote the rich agenda of cooperation with the Council of Europe and its bodies, stressing that the recommendations of the Commission have an important meaning for Armenia.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia highly appreciated the continuous support of the Council of Europe to Armenia since its accession aimed at implementing democratic reforms, promoting human rights protection, fight against corruption, strengthening the rule of law. From the point of view of democratic development of Armenia, the sides also underlined the importance of holding early parliamentary elections in Armenia in 2021 in line with the highest international standards.

During the meeting Ararat Mirzoyan presented the humanitarian situation resulting from the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, in particular, touching upon the issues of repatriation of the prisoners of war and civilians illegally held in Azerbaijan, preservation of the Armenian cultural heritage in the territories fallen under the control of Azerbaijan, and humanitarian issues, deliberately created by Azerbaijan in Artsakh.