Back The European Union and the Council of Europe support discussions on the draft Law on national minorities in Armenia

Armenia, Yerevan 31 October 2019
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The European Union and the Council of Europe support discussions on the draft Law on national minorities in Armenia

On 31 October 2019, the PGG regional project “Strengthening access to justice through non-judiciary redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries” supported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice in organising a one-day panel discussion entitled “Draft Law on National Minorities: issues, concerns and opportunities”. The purpose of the panel was to address issues raised by national minorities and to include their comments into the draft Law.

Opening remarks were made by Ms Kristinne Grigorian, Deputy Minister of Justice, Ms Karine Soudjaian, Head of Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues at the Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Mr Arayik Navoyan Armenia’s expert of the Advisory Committee for the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM).

Prof. Dr. Tove Malloy, former Member of Advisory Committee FCNM elected in respect of Denmark, Council of Europe's expert has been invited to share her experiences in the perspectives of implementation of the laws on national minorities and good practices. Mr Vardan Astcatrian, Head of the Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs Division at the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia has presented national minorities’ joint comments on the draft Law.

On this occasion, after a fruitful discussion, participants agreed to gather all comments and suggestions and organise one more discussion before the submission of the final version of the Law to the Parliament.

This event is a follow-up to the expert opinion on the draft Law on the exercise of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities from the point of view of both the FCNM and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which the Council of Europe provided last year.

The Partnership for Good Governance (PGG) is a joint co-operation initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe for strengthening good governance in the Eastern Partnership region*.

The Partnership for Good Governance provides tailor-made support to beneficiary countries to meet their reform agendas and comply with the European standards in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy. This is also a priority for the EU enlargement process, as relevant for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine's candidate status and Georgia's European perspective.

The Partnership for Good Governance programme will also continue supporting Armenia and Azerbaijan and is also foreseen to support co-operation with Belarusian democratic forces and civil society.

Find out more about the Partnership for Good Governance programme >>

Focus

* While the Partnership for Good Governance does not include activities with the participation of the Belarusian authorities, in line with the EU policy of non-engagement with Belarusian public bodies and state-owned enterprises enshrined in the European Council Conclusions of October 2020, activities may be organised with the representatives of Belarusian civil society and democratic actors as appropriate, in line with the European Council Conclusions of February 2022 and the Decision of the Council of Europe Ministers’ Deputies of March 2022.

This website has been produced using funds of a joint programme between the European Union and the Council of Europe. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

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