Right of Peoples to Self-Determination Becomes More Admissible for OSCE

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian delegation managed to foil all the anti-Armenian resolutions at the OSCE PA session, head of the RA delegation to the OSCE PA, National Assembly Vice-speaker Vahan Hovhannisian stated in Yerevan today. In his words, the right of peoples to self-determination was for the fist time introduced into the OSCE papers. "The OSCE PA welcomed Serbia, which demonstrated civilized and based upon European values approach and did not reply to Montenegro's referendum with tanks and warplanes. We fixed it as a wonderful example of balance between the principle of territorial integrity and the right of peoples to self-determination," said the Vice-speaker adding that the resolution met furious opposition of the Azeri and Georgian delegations. "Nevertheless the voting proved that the right of peoples to self-determination becomes more and more admissible for the OSCE," Hovhannisian underscored.



The head of the Armenian delegation also informed that the draft resolution submitted by the Georgian and Azeri delegations and calling for settlement of conflicts via return of disputable territories to the states they used to belong to were rejected. "The Azerbaijani and Georgian delegations proposed to pass a document, according to which future status of Kosovo cannot be a precedent for the settlement of other similar conflict. These resolutions were backed by the Turkish, Azeri and Georgian delegations only. By the way, the adoption of the resolution was foiled with Russia's assistance. Consequently the status of Kosovo can become a precedent and the Karabakh problem along with the other conflicts receives a new key to solution," Vahan Hovhannisian said.



Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan proposed a resolution which said that the OSCE officials as well as members of other international organizations should keep in contact with the legal and recognized authorities while the national minorities should respect the territorial integrity of the state where they live. "The adoption of this resolution was crushed by the Spanish delegation which said that national minorities have the right to dispute the territorial integrity of a state which doesn't protect their rights," the RA NA Vice-speaker said. The Armenian delegation also blocked the resolution which called Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan best example of regional cooperation.