On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian received Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who arrived late Monday night inYerevan to start a working visit with various Armenian officials.

In the meeting with the Foreign Minister, the two discussed Armenia-CoE cooperation, regional relations, Armenia's course of fulfillment of its obligations to the CoE, and the possibility of normalizing relations with Turkey. Secretary General Schwimmer went on to praise Armenia for its quick progress in meeting its obligations, and stated that he hoped the understandable delays of abolishing the death penalty and making certain constitutional reforms would be promptly corrected.

The Foreign Minister and Secretary General Schwimmer also spoke at length about the Karabagh peace process and both made it clear that all necessary steps need to be taken to settle the conflict peacefully. The Secretary General went on to state that he viewed the Karabagh conflict as one of his top priorities and that the CoE would do all it could to help peacefully solve the conflict. Minister Oskanian also made it clear that he appreciated the efforts of the Council of Europe, even as the OSCE Minsk process continues to move forward as the organization with the most experience in the search for a resolution to the Karabagh conflict.

Later on that same day, Secretary General Schwimmer made a visit to Yerevan State University where he gave a speech to approximately 100young students about the Council of Europe, the Karabagh peace process, and Armenia's future. In that speech he stated, "In everyday life borders must lose their meaning, as it is in the case with the German-French border in the vicinity of Strasbourg."

Secretary General Schwimmer went on to say that Armenia must be the trailblazer for the region, and serve as an example to its neighbors. He stressed the importance of developing good relations with all of the countries of the South Caucasus, and with the Republic of Turkey and said that it is important for Armenia to maintain good relations with Iran. 

The Secretary General met with President Kocharian, Minister of Justice David Harutunian, Chairman of the National Assembly Armen Khachatrian., Chairman of the Constitutional Court Gagik Harutunian, Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, A. Sahradian, as well as various representatives of international organizations in Yerevan.

Near the conclusion of his visit, the Secretary General held a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Oskanian. Mr. Schwimmer welcomed Armenia's progress in meeting membership obligations and stressed that those commitments are not just to the Council of Europe, but these commitments Armenia has made to itself and to its people - to adopt democratic and human rights principles in line with European standards.

Regarding Nagorno Karabagh, he reiterated his views, stating that, "borders should never be the subject of dispute between countries and...it is very dangerous to wait too long for solutions because people get used to the situation."

The Secretary General alluded to the various areas of cooperation between Armenia and the Council of Europe. He explained that, "the Council of Europe offers its full support and assistance to Armenia in the fight against corruption and agrees with the President of the Constitutional Court, that in the struggle to eradicate corruption, we must work to look at its causes."

Secretary General Schwimmer explained why Armenia is his only stop on this trip. "I have already visited Georgia," he said, "and to put it very bluntly, I did not want to visit Azerbaijan until they resolve certain problems that they have with political prisoners." 

Regarding Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Guliyev's insistence that a member of the Council of Europe PACE Political Committee's monitoring group be changed, the Secretary General rejected such suggestions and explained that the composition of such committees is completely up to the PACE Political Committee and no country has the right to determine the make-up of a monitoring committee.

In response to several questions regarding the reservations in some quarters in Armenia to do away with the death penalty, Secretary General Schwimmer said, "There can be no exceptions. This is the European standard. We do believe that death does not do justice. We expect Armenia and all countries to honor their commitments, without reservation or exceptions. In this regard, we have seen the goodwill of the Armenian Parliament and Government towards its commitments to the CoE and towards its people."

In 2001, Armenia joined the Council of Europe, which hopes to unite Europe through democracy, human rights, and rule of law.