NEW CONSTITUTION OF ARMENIA - ADVANCE TOWARDS EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

PanARMENIAN.Net - During today's press conference UK Ambassador to Armenia Thorda Abbot-Watt welcomed the Venice Commission's positive assessment of the draft constitutional amendments. According to her, the new constitution of Armenia will become a recurrent step towards the integration into European structures. At the same time she noted that it is the Armenian population to decide what kind of Constitution to adopt and what kind of country to live in. In her words, the implementation of the Constitution is one of the most important aspects. "Armenia should itself follow the implementation process of the Organic Law of the country", the British diplomat noted. She also stressed the necessity of participation of all the political forces in the constitutional reform process. In his turn U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Anthony Godfrey stated, "We support the democratic reform in Armenia and hope that the new Constitution will be adopted in November." According to him, the positive assessment by the Venice Commission is an advance, however the process is not completed yet. "We expect the Armenian population to take part in the constitutional debate, thus securing conduction of the referendum", he noted adding that the adoption of the reviewed Constitution cannot rule out falsifications. Mr. Godfrey expressed hope that after the parliamentary debates reasonable decisions will be taken.