“It’s important for CSTO states and their parliamentary delegations to demonstrate a balanced stance on international platforms and refrain from statements not meeting the interests of separate CSTO member states and the CSTO as a whole,” Vice-President of the Armenian National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov said, addressing the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly sitting in Yerevan.
“Unfortunately, in some cases certain CSTO member states not only fail to defend their allies on international platforms, but also express positions contradicting the official stance of the CSTO. This is impermissible and we have to do the utmost to exclude these negative phenomena in the future,” Sharmazanov said.
Speaking about expressions of terrorism, racism and xenophobia, the Vice-Speaker said “it’s a challenge not only to the CSTO, but also the humanity at large” and urged to say a decisive “no” to all vicious phenomena.
Sharmazanov noted that “the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border remains tense.” “We have always stood for exceptionally peaceful resolution of all problems, particularly the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group based on the three well-known principles. The use of force or the threat of force should not be only unacceptable to, but also condemnable by all of us,” he said, adding that it’s the only way to prevent future threats.
