On January 24, the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) started in Strasbourg. During the four-day event, Radar Armenia spoke with Sona Ghazaryan, a member of the PACE Armenian delegation, about issues related to Armenia and Artsakh.

- You have just returned from Strasbourg from the PACE winter session. What work has been done to open the Lachin Corridor, and what are your expectations from PACE?

- Before talking about the discussion of the Lachin Corridor issue, we should note that the fact of discussing the issue has come a long way if we are guided by the fact that it was first discussed in the presidential committee. And for the case to be put on the agenda of the plenary sessions and debated, the bureau voted in favor of this issue. During the presentation, the chairman of the plenary session had already said that out of the two points to be discussed during the session, priority should be given to the topic of the humanitarian consequences of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor. And, according to that, with 91 votes in favor, the issue was included in the agenda of the plenary sessions, and we discussed it on Thursday. The PACE order is such that the political groups initially express their positions. All political groups have unanimously recorded that the Lachin Corridor is closed. I single this out because the delegation of Azerbaijan tried to present that there was no blockade at all, but they found themselves in their trap because these statements were followed by a discussion on their part about what the siege was for. For example, they cited the topic of fake environmentalists and presented personal problems; in parallel, they mentioned that weapons are being supplied through the Lachin Corridor, but the PACE did not accept these arguments. And the political groups gave a speech stating that there is a blockade, as well as individual members gave a speech, talking about the urgency of unblocking the Lachin Corridor about the fact that according to the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan must ensure normal movement, they stated the existence of a humanitarian disaster and its severe consequences. During their speeches, many delegates also noted the importance of the fact-finding mission in the Lachin Corridor. They called on Azerbaijan to cooperate with Armenia on this agenda because the agreement of both states is essential here. The most significant achievement in PACE was that the bureau decided that the adoption of the resolution would follow the discussion of the issue. I want to inform you that the Armenian delegation presented two changes in the "Progress report." The first is that the report on the PACE member states also includes the issue of the urgent return of our captured citizens, and the second is that the case of unblocking the Lachin Corridor and its importance be included at the resolution level. We can record that we were able to ensure that the PACE resolution states that the Lachin corridor is closed and there is an urgent need to unblock it, resulting in a humanitarian crisis.

- In your opinion, can adopting the PACE resolution restrain Azerbaijan?

- Yes, considering that the Azerbaijani delegation faced severe resistance. They turned to other partners for support. They tried to ask even the delegates of different countries to give a speech with their agenda, but they have not achieved any positive results.

- Are there clear deadlines? When will the PACE resolution be ready?

- The procedure is like this. PACE bureau delegates to one of the commissions to discuss the issue. We already know that it will be addressed in the migration committee. And now we have to go through that stage as well. Of course, we expect we will also meet severe resistance here. Still, the Armenian delegation, with its entire composition, in this case, also with the opposition partners, is ready to face them.

Hayk Magoyan