Armenian delegation regrets that OSCE PA is only focused on single issue – Ukraine

The Armenian delegation initiated 3 amendments in the reports submitted at the summer sitting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The amendments pertained also to the issue of the PoWs, preservation of cultural heritage, but the amendments were not adopted, the Head of the Armenian Parliamentary Delegation to the OSCE PA Eduard Aghajanyan said at a news conference.

He said that the very first day of the winter sitting coincided with the events in Ukraine. “From that moment on, the OSCE PA was entirely focused on this conflict only,” he said.

“Frankly speaking, practically it was very difficult to draw the attention of the parliamentary assembly on any other issue, including naturally on the processes taking place in our region,” he said.

Before the summer sitting, Aghajanyan and MP Maria Karapetyan visited Lithuania to meet with the OSCE PA Political Affairs Committee Rapporteur and present the developments in the region.

The three amendments initiated by the Armenian delegation in the annual report pertained to the political affairs report and the human rights report. “These pertained to the developments taking place in the region, the conflict which practically continues since November 9, 2020, and there are outstanding issues which aren’t being solved. These changes aimed at drawing the attention of the international community and the OSCE PA on the outstanding issues,” Aghajanyan said, stressing that their amendments had the maximum number of endorsements by various delegates in the initial period.

“The changes pertained to the outstanding PoWs issue, which isn’t solved since November 9, 2020, despite the trilateral statement itself containing a term in this regard. Many international organizations have addressed this numerously. We can’t see any reason why the OSCE PA should’ve rejected to address this topic. The next issue related to cultural heritage preservation, and the other also the activity of the OSCE Minsk Group and its importance,” Aghajanyan said.

The Armenian delegation stressed the importance of resolving the Artsakh conflict in the OSCE MG Co-Chairmanship format. The amendments didn’t pass.

Aghajanyan delivered a speech in the PA, condemning this stance. In his speech, he expressed regret that the entire OSCE PA is focused only on one issue – Ukraine. “And in essence, we can say for the record that practically our colleagues don’t have any interest in any other issue or conflict in the OSCE region at this moment. This is unacceptable behavior for us, and we are yet to analyze the reasons of this all, taking into account also the actions that were done before the annual session,” he said.

Aghajanyan said that amid Azeri strategy of widespread false accusations, the perceptions of some OSCE PA colleagues could get distorted.