Azernews.Az

STRASBOURG – Chairman of the Swedish delegation to PACE and co-rapporteur on Armenia Goran Lindblad has sent a letter to head of the Armenian delegation in PACE David Harutyunyan where he subjected the actions by the Armenian authorities to criticism, ArmInfo agency reported.

"I have my doubt that Armenia as a country that considers itself a democratic one, cannot find time to meet the co-rapporteurs on the margins of the forum "For Democratic Future" to be held by the Council of Europe. This confirms my supposition about Armenia that it is not yet mature for holding such a forum," Goran Lindblad wrote in the letter.

He recalled that on June 22 the Monitoring Committee allowed the fact-finding group of the co-rapporteurs to visit Armenia, but it was later postponed due to the summer vacations. Citing the fact that there will not be enough time to organize it in mid September, according to him, it was delayed once more.

"It seemed there was an agreement to organize the visits on October 17-18 on the sidelines of the Forum, but speaker of the Armenian parliament rejected it. As far as I know, the monitoring visits are usually delayed only after elections to allow the new governments fulfill promises. But this is not Armenia's case. I think the Armenian authorities are trying to protract the visit because of me, because of my commitments, related to democratic values, human rights and equality … I have no personal problems, but hampering the monitoring process means humiliating the Parliamentary Assembly and basic values of the Council of Europe which Armenia assumed to protect," Lindblad continued.

Further, he asked his addresses to review his wish to meet Armenia’s representatives on the sidelines of the Forum which is planned to take place in Yerevan on October 19-21.