During the last week, Minister Oskanian addressed the leadership of the European Union, the Council of Europe, and spoke at the UNESCO General Conference.

On Sunday, September 27, Minister Oskanian arrived in Strasbourg to meet with the members of Armenia's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. On Monday, the Minister met with Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer. Mr. Oskanian presented Mr. Schwimmer with the original signed copy of the VI Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights which Armenia's National Assembly had just ratified earlier this month, thus abolishing the death penalty. Mr. Schwimmer expressed their appreciation at Armenia's progress in meeting Council of Europe commitments.

On Tuesday, September 30, the Minister took part in the annual Armenia-EU Cooperation Council in Brussels chaired by the Italian presidency. The sides reviewed progress made in EU-Armenia relations and charted a course for the next year. Following the Council meeting, the Minister, together with the foreign ministers of Georgia and Azerbaijan took part in a joint working lunch with Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Council of the European Union and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Chris Patten, Commissioner in Charge of External Relations.

On Wednesday, in Paris, the Minister addressed UNESCO's 32d General Conference, where he invited UNESCO to send a monitoring team to Nakhichevan to witness firsthand the process of monument destruction.

On Thursday, prior to his return to Yerevan, the Minister met with the co-chairs of the Minsk Group. They discussed the resumption of talks on the Nagorno Karabagh conflict following the conclusion of Azerbaijan's elections, and the possible date for their next visit to the region.