Karen Andreasyan raises issue of return of Armenians held in Azerbaijan during meeting with high-ranking delegation of the Council of Europe

Armenia anticipates that the Council of Europe will demonstrate a clear position on Azerbaijan and will exert pressure on that country so that the Armenian prisoners of war and other civilians held in Azerbaijan are returned to the homeland. This is what Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan declared during a meeting with the delegation led by Head of Rapporteur Group on Democracy of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Mårten Ehnberg.

Minister Andreasyan welcomed the high-ranking representatives of the Council of Europe to the Ministry of Justice and emphasised that the Council of Europe is one of the key partners of Armenia with which there is co-operation in a number of directions — fight against domestic violence, improvement of the Probation Service, protection of human rights at penitentiary institutions, judicial reforms, fight against corruption, etc. In this context, Karen Andreasyan expressed his gratitude to the Council of Europe and the key donor countries for the willingness to support the reform agenda of Armenia.

In response to the questions of the Council of Europe Ambassadors, Minister Andreasyan touched upon the constitutional reforms and digitalisation of the judiciary, the plan to create “Justice Homes” for provision of public services in one place in Armenia based on the Georgian example, the opportunities for increase of effectiveness of the Compulsory Enforcement Service, the activities for the establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the construction of a penitentiary institution with new officers with integrity according to the model of the Patrol Service, etc.

Head of the delegation Mårten Ehnberg stated that he is inspired by the implemented reforms and the upcoming programmes and wished success on the path to implementation of the ambitious agenda.

Let us mention that the delegation also included Permanent Representatives of Russia, France, Finland, Andorra, Estonia, Iceland and Switzerland to the Council of Europe, as well as Director of the Office of the Council of Europe Directorate General of Programmes Verena Taylor, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan Martina Schmidt and others. The delegation was accompanied by Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the Council of Europe Paruyr Hovhannisyan.