Visit of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to region is an important political signal, says Armenian FM

The visit of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the region is a very important political signal in conditions when the OSCE presence in South Caucasus has reached to a minimum, Armenia’s foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said during a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Miroslav Lajčák, in Yerevan.

“This is the first visit of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the region over the past three years. This is an important political signal under the conditions when the OSCE federal missions have been closed in the region and its presence in South Caucasus has reached to a minimum as a result of the abuse of the organization’s consensus principle. It’s worth noting that this is first visit of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to Armenia after the recent velvet, democratic revolution and December 2018 parliamentary elections in our country which deserved the highest assessment of the international community, including the OSCE and OSCE/ODIHR”, the Armenian FM said.

The foreign minister said Armenia remains committed to the mutually beneficial cooperation with the international partners.

“We are committed to continue the mutually beneficial cooperation with the international partners aimed at promoting democratic reforms and strengthening our achievements in Armenia. Armenia is ready to cooperate with the OSCE Slovak chairmanship aimed at promoting dialogue over urgent issues of the organization’s agenda at all platforms”, Mnatsakanyan said.