“Closure of OSCE Yerevan Office cannot harm Armenia-OSCE political relations”

The closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan cannot harm the political relations of Armenia and the OSCE, MP Edmon Marukyan, Chairman of Bright Armenia party, said during a discussion on May 10.

“The closure of the OSCE Yerevan Office may certainly impact the activeness of programs carried out by that Office in our country, but it cannot in any way harm the political relations of Armenia and the OSCE,” Marukyan said.

The MP clarified that the Office was not closed by Armenia’s initiative, quite the contrary, Armenia did everything for the Office not to be closed.

“Currently discussions are being held on through which channels the OSCE is going to implement its programs in Armenia. Eventually, the states, that make investments in the OSCE budget, are also members of the Council of Europe, thus they can use the levers of the Council of Europe. Azerbaijan there has no chance to suspend budget approval through a consensus,” the MP said.

Edmon Marukyan added that he discussed the topic in-detail with Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and was informed about the steps taken by the Armenian side on this path.

“Here I was mainly interested in what the Russian side did for the Office not to be closed. There is an opinion that if Russia and the United States would have a desire, they could exert pressure on Azerbaijan and would prevent the closure of the Office. But it is understandable that in this case Azerbaijan went through the most extreme way. Azerbaijan maintained its right to veto until the end so that the Office will be closed,” Marukyan said.