December 24, 2008 - 13:50 AMT
Armenia should be democracy medium in South Caucasus
The voting rights of the Armenian delegation in the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) can be suspended at its next session due in late January.

"This will damage the process of Armenia's integration into European structures and the country's foreign policy, since the Council of Europe is an organization which highlights human rights protection," Victor Yengibaryan, President of the European Movement Armenia, told a news conference today.

"If a country fixes violation of human rights it will certainly have a negative impact. Nevertheless, we should not get into panic because our delegation can be deprived of the vote. We should just explain that Armenia in transition period but we want to move forward and be a better democracy," he said.

Europe expects greater efforts to strengthen democracy in Armenia, according to him.

"We should become the carrier of European and democratic values in the South Caucasus," Mr. Yengibaryan said.