President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Visits the OPCW

On 25 May 2005, H.E. Mr Artur Baghdasaryan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, visited the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague. The National Assembly President, Mr Baghdasaryan, was accompanied by H.E. Mr Viguen Tchitetchian, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the OPCW, Mr Mher Shahgeldyan, Head of the Committee on Defence, Interior Affairs and National Security, and Mr Hayk Kotanyan, Secretary General of the National Assembly, as well as members of the Standing Committees on State and Legal Affairs, Financial-Credit, Budgetary and Economic Affairs and Foreign Relations.

The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, welcomed H.E. Mr Baghdasaryan and the parliamentary delegation and provided them an overview of the Chemical Weapons Convention’s (CWC) present status of implementation, undertaken by the 168 OPCW Member States.

National Assembly President Baghdasaryan reaffirmed Armenia’s firm resolve to support the full and universal implementation of the CWC and underscored his Government’s commitment to ensuring that this category of weapons of mass destruction is entirely eliminated.

As a contribution towards ensuring that the ban can effectively address new developments in science and technology, National Assembly President Baghdasaryan proposed a joint sub-regional conference, focussing on scientific and technological developments that could benefit the elimination of chemical weapons, as well as to improve protection against a chemical weapons attack. The proposed conference can also serve as a forum for regional States Parties and States not Party to discuss the Convention’s universal and effective implementation.

On behalf of the Organisation, Director-General Pfirter expressed his appreciation and gratitude to Armenia for its commendable initiative and endorsed the aims and purpose of the sub-regional conference.

In their meeting, National Assembly President Baghdasaryan and Director-General Pfirter also discussed the OPCW’s Action Plan on national implementation and concurred that all Parliaments play an indispensable role in establishing the legal and administrative means to enforce the ban on chemical weapons at the national level. This task has grown in urgency due to the latent threat of chemical terrorism. National Assembly President Baghdasaryan assured Director-General Pfirter that both the Armenian National Assembly in its own deliberations, as well as in its work with the International Parliamentary Union, would undertake to address these issues so that the chemical weapons ban can be implemented effectively and in full by every OPCW Member State.

21/2005

Categories: Eastern Europe, Parliamentarians