Roundtable discussion on inter-parliamentary co-operation and diplomacy held in Armenia with OSCE Office support

The OSCE Office in Yerevan, jointly with Armenia’s National Assembly, hosted a roundtable on inter-parliamentary co-operation and parliamentary diplomacy from 8 to 10 December 2012 in Tsaghkadzor,  Armenia.

Some 50 parliamentarians discussed the role of the parliamentary diplomacy and challenges  faced in work with major inter-parliamentary bodies that Armenia is a member of. These include the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly; the parliamentary structures of the Council of Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, EURONEST, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation, as well as NATO. International and domestic experts provided newly elected members of parliament with a comprehensive overview of the best practices of inter-parliamentary co-operation to strengthen the Armenian legislature’s role in the country’s diplomatic efforts. 

The event was opened by a number of dignitaries, including Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan; Hermine Naghdalyan, Armenia’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament; and Artak Zakaryan, the Chair of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee of Foreign Relations.

The event was held at the initiative of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs. It is part of the OSCE Office’s efforts to enhance institutional and professional capacities of the Armenian Parliament.