At the invitation of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, delegations led by the presidents and vice-presidents of the parliaments of the Nordic-Baltic Eight cooperation format are in Armenia. On January 23, a panel discussion on the topic "Together for Peace and Democracy" was held with the participation of the delegates.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, made an opening speech at the start of the expanded discussion. The Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Srbuhi Galyan, delivered a speech at the event. According to her, the panel discussion topic is consistent with the agenda of reforms being implemented in the Republic of Armenia, including in the justice sector. Speaking about democracy, the Minister presented the steps taken by the government to strengthen democratic values.

"Democracy is our society's choice, which is indisputable and irrevocable. Therefore, democracy is also the choice of the state, and democracy is also a way of working for us, the government," emphasized Srbuhi Galyan.

Justice Sector In the context of reforms, the rapporteur noted that in recent years, with the support of international partners, in particular, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and individual European countries, reforms have been implemented mainly in four areas: These are: the fight against corruption, the protection of human rights, the transformation of the judicial and legal sector, and the development of the penitentiary and probation sectors.

The Minister, emphasizing the importance of holding such discussions, expressed hope that they will be continuous and contribute to the deepening of the relations established between our countries.

Sona Ghazaryan, a member of the RA NA and the Standing Committee on European Integration, coordinated the panel discussion. The discussions took place within the framework of democratic developments, reforms, and cooperation with the Nordic-Baltic Eight.

The discussions were attended by the Speaker of the RA NA, Alen Simonyan, the Speaker of the Estonian Riigikogu Lauri Hussar, the Speaker of the Latvian Saeima Daiga Mieriņa, the Speaker of the Finnish Eduskunta Jussi Halla-Aho, the Speaker of the Norwegian Storting Masud Gharahkhani, the Deputy Speaker of the Danish Folketing Karsten Honge, Deputy Speaker of the Saeimas of Lithuania Juozas Olekas, and Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag of Sweden Kenneth Forslund touched upon the EU integration processes, the opportunities for democratic developments and access to the European market, the challenges of democracy and freedom of speech, the negative impact of disinformation flows in these processes and the consequences of authoritarianism.

"I believe democratic societies are more resilient and strong because people feel that they are the masters of their society," said the Speaker of the Finnish Eduskunta.

"Democracy provides an opportunity to have a better society. Democracy is also important for us because the Armenian people have been deprived of democracy for a long time, and now protecting democracy means for us to establish and establish strong institutions," Sona Ghazaryan noted. In this context, the issue of trust in democratic institutions was discussed.

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan touched on democracy from a security perspective, noting that the most excellent security system for Armenia is to be a democratic state.

"If you attack Armenia, you attack a democratic state. If you attack Armenia, you attack democratic values," Alen Simonyan expressed confidence.

The Speaker of the Parliament thanked his colleagues for their cooperation. According to Alen Simonyan, this visit will bring our country a new level of security.

The colleagues believed that democracy is a tool that helps strengthen security.

Cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership was touched upon. In this context, the Deputy Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag expressed the opinion that the Eastern Partnership is a means to contribute to the EU and EU neighboring countries being able to improve the quality of life, the country's well-being, help protect democracy, and pave the way for EU membership.

The President of the Estonian Riigikogu also highlighted the role of social networks in holding free elections.

"We need to protect democracy and be able to develop it in a truly resilient way," he noted.

According to the deputy speaker of the Danish Folketing, a resilient society is necessary in the fight against disinformation.

"Freedom of speech is to criticize and be open to criticism. According to him, there is no need to make concessions regarding freedom of speech," he noted.

The Speaker of the Finnish Eduskunta also touched on freedom of speech on social networks and the importance of protecting society from fake news.

"I believe that restricting freedom of speech on social networks will cause more harm to our societies," he said.

Before the second part of the panel discussion, a video clip on the "Crossroads of Peace" project was presented. After that, representatives of non-governmental organizations and political parties participated in a question-and-answer format on the topic "South Caucasus Peace Agenda, Security Challenges, Cooperation with the Northern Europe-Baltic Countries Format."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, made a speech. He assured us that our country has undertaken to seek new opportunities to deepen cooperation with Nordic-Baltic countries.

Speaking about democracy and the pursuit of peace, the Minister stated that, judging by the election results, the citizens of the Republic of Armenia have overwhelmingly chosen democracy and peace.

"In the person of the Republic of Armenia, you have a partner who deeply believes in democracy and peace and will not stop doing everything and all possible steps to have a peaceful and democratic haven in the South Caucasus," he emphasized. Minister.

Ararat Mirzoyan also touched upon the processes of signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and normalizing relations with Turkey.

At the end of the panel discussion, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, and the heads of the delegations of the parliaments of the Nordic-Baltic Eight cooperation format held a press conference.

According to the NA Speaker's assessment, such a high-level visit will positively impact the Republic of Armenia's initiative to start an era of peace in the region. An agreement was reached on deepening cooperation at the parliamentary level and exchanging experience in several areas.

The partner delegates were willing to support deeper cooperation between Armenia and the European Union in all possible directions. They also highly appreciated Armenia's achievements in democratic reforms.