February 7, 2008 - 17:12 AMT
RA parliamentarians ready for cooperation with Turkish and Azeri counterparts
RA National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosian met Wednesday with EU Troika Delegation led by Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, the RA NA press office reported.

The delegation includes European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Envoy for South Caucasus Peter Semneby.

RA Ambassador to Belgium Vigen Chitechian, French Ambassador to Armenia Serzh Smessov and other officials also attended the meeting.

Welcoming the guests, Speaker Torosian said that opening of new premises of the EC Delegation to Armenia will give a new impetus to the Armenia-EU relations. He also touched upon reforms carried out in legal field and human rights.

Mr Torosian emphasized the importance of holding the presidential election on a level with international standards. "All remarks and proposals of the ODIHR/OSCE experts were taken into account. In their interim reports, the observation missions gave a positive estimation to the election processes," he said.

"Armenia attaches importance to cooperation with the European Union," he added.

Touching on the forthcoming presidential elections in Armenia, Mr Torosian said, "Conduction of Armenian elections in compliance with international standards has become a tradition."

When discussing regional problems, the Speaker stated that Armenian parliamentarians are ready for cooperation with their Azeri and Turkish counterparts, who seem unprepared for establishment of relations.