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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia met with Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić on Saturday, his office reported.

Stressing the importance of today’s meeting, the prime minister noted that it is a good opportunity to discuss issues of topical concern.

“Madam Secretary General, I am very glad to see you here. If I am not mistaken, we have not had any opportunity to meet so far. I am very glad to meet with you and have the opportunity to discuss current issues. As you know, Armenia is in a huge process of democratic reforms, which accelerated especially after the non-violent velvet people’s revolution in 2018.

We eventually found out that our constitutional system was occupied before the Revolution. Furthermore, it was mined. And now we are in a very careful process of de-mining our democracy and the judiciary. I am happy for this opportunity to give you some information about the ongoing processes, because we recently decided to hold a referendum on the Constitutional Court. It is my pleasure to inform you about what and why is going on and what will happen next,” Pashinyan said.

The CoE secretary general stated, in turn: “Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for this opportunity I think it is very important as you mentioned for me to be informed about the ongoing process. Let me recall that we have already started this intense cooperation between Armenia and the Council of Europe with a high-level Council of Europe group’s visit last May.

I understand that you yourself asked the Council of Europe to get engaged on these issues. The Council of Europe started watching carefully what is going on. There are some concerns, and it would be interesting to hear from your side how you see these developments and how we can continue to be of assistance.”

Prime Minister Pashinyan touched upon the democratic transformations underway in Armenia, including the judiciary reform. Nikol Pashinyan underscored that our country made great progress last year in the ratings published by international organizations in terms of democracy, human rights and freedom of speech. The Premier dwelt on the factors and reasons that anticipated the upcoming constitutional referendum.

Marija Pejčinović Burić expressed her organization’s full support for the Armenian government’s efforts, including the judiciary reform. She noted that the CoE will follow up the discussion with the Armenian government on cooperation in the given area.