Members of the National Assembly delegation to the OSCE PA participated in the 30th annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) in Vancouver, Canada. Sargis Khandanyan, head of the delegation of the RA National Assembly to the OSCE PA and chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, spoke at the OSCE PA Policy and Security Affairs Committee session.

"Mr. President, I want to thank Mr. Kasyunas for preparing the report and the resolution.

Unfortunately, after adopting the Birmingham Declaration, the security situation in the South Caucasus and around Armenia continues deteriorating. The sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia was subjected to brutal aggression by Azerbaijan in September 2022, which led to the occupation of a part of our sovereign territory. This violence was stopped thanks to the active intervention of the United States of America.

Every day, Azerbaijan violates the ceasefire regime, shelling military positions, civil infrastructures, and the population of the border regions of Armenia. Azerbaijan has also started targeting my country's economic development by shelling a metallurgical plant built with American investment.

Fortunately, there is now a mechanism along the border of Armenia that records violations of the ceasefire regime and border tension and reports about it to several member countries of this assembly. We are talking about the European Union Civilian Monitoring Mission stationed in Armenia for two years, the purpose of which is to contribute to stability in the border regions; for which I want to express my gratitude to all EU member states for agreeing to deploy the mission, and especially to Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia for their active involvement in making this decision.

The European Union offered the exact mechanism to Azerbaijan, but the latter refused to accept it. Guess why? This fact clearly shows who is the aggressor in this conflict.

Dear colleagues, since in other conflict contexts, we state who is the aggressor and the victim, it is also important to state it in this context. It helps identify problems and find solutions to them. The changes I have proposed in this resolution serve that purpose.

I think the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly should be more active in strengthening the organization's role and involvement in our region," emphasized Sargis Khandanyan.