YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. On November 13, the young delegates of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly were welcomed to the Parliament of Armenia. The network of young parliamentarians of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has just been created, and it was formed at the beginning of this year. This is the fourth meeting of the delegates, which is being held in Armenia, the parliament’s press service said.
Armenia has the second youngest parliament in the world after Norway. In the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the delegation of Armenia is the youngest, which is conditioned by the representation of young members in our parliament.
“As parliamentarians, we have posed a problem to take advantage of this feature and establish communication through this network with young parliamentarians from other countries as politicians and young parliamentarians, see what commonalities we have and how we we can use them for our common goals,” said Maria Karapetyan, member of the Armenian parliament’s delegation to the OSCE PA.
After meeting with Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan during the meeting via videoconference, OSCE PA Chair Margareta Cederfelt welcomed the young MPs. She reiterated that meetings of this format only strengthen inter-parliamentary relations. As assured by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, in addition to the platform of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, it is necessary to also use other international platforms to discuss the problems existing security systems in different regions. , underline the role of democratic values, discuss the problems of climate change.
The Speaker of the Parliament expressed the hope that similar meetings would promote the involvement of young MPs from PA member countries in different initiatives.
Next, meeting participants discussed threats to democracy in the OSCE region and security challenges.
Maria Karapetyan spoke about the challenges of democracy and security in terms of both the problems of the region and of our country. “Sometimes an attempt is to persuade our society that democracy and security contradict each other that we were wrong in choosing democratic elections. I have a contrary opinion. We would not have the security problems that we have if we had really chosen the path of democracy since our independence, the construction of institutes and the guarantee of democratic processes”, expressed the young parliamentarian. According to her, democracy ensures lasting internal confrontation, democratic societies, in general, are more protected vis-à-vis internal and external challenges. For Maria Karapetyan, it is important that Armenia chooses democracy as a means of internal government, which will ensure the peaceful coexistence of our country in the region for a long time.
Reference was made to the role of young politicians and parliamentarians in the process of containing current security threats. Member of the Armenian parliamentary delegation to the OSCE PA Hripsime Grigoryan, today more than ever, the role of youth is also important in the decision-making process. According to the deputy, the young political figures of our country, and in this regard, cooperation with the deputies of other states is important, because the problems are of the same order, the challenges too. Hripsime Grigoryan assessed the continuous meetings of young parliamentarians and these discussions on different issues, which can be an effective platform for the solution of the above-mentioned problems.
Member of the Armenian parliamentary delegation to the OSCE PA Sargis Khandanyan also highlighted the discussion of security issues in this format, stressing that the OSCE region faces security challenges.
Then a meeting was held with representatives of NGOs engaged in youth issues in Armenia, and they try to contribute to the development of democratic institutes with their activities.
Sargis Khandanyan highlighted the role of civil society in transforming young people into political figures.
Issues on increasing the role of young people and their participation in political processes were discussed. Views were exchanged on the possibilities of international development cooperation with fellow parliamentarians.
