Mher Grigoryan presents regulations: It stems from the regulations on the activity of the commissions on delimitation of the state border between RA and Azerbaijan that an[...]

During the meetings with participation of the heads of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sochi on 26 November 2021, in Brussels on 6 April 2022, in Prague on 6 October 2022 the parties reached agreements to undertake steps on the rise of the level of Armenia-Azerbaijan border stability and security and to create a bilateral Commission on the delimitation of the state border between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said this at October 21 sitting of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, presenting for debate on Ratifying the regulations On Joint Activity of the State Commission on delimitation of the state border between the Commission on Delimitation of the State Border and the Border Security between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan and the State Commission on Delimitation of the State Border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia. The Deputy Prime Ministers of the two countries signed the document on August 30, 2024.

"The parties approved their commitment to the UN Charter and 1991 Almaty Declaration, by which the two countries recognized their territorial integrity and sovereignty. The parties approved that it will be a basis for the work of the Commissions on Delimitation," the rapporteur said.

Mher Grigoryan informed that afterwards by the decision N 570-A of May 23, 2022 of the RA Prime Minister the Commission on Delimitation of the State Border and Border Security between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan was established, and by the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on May 23,2022 the State Commission on Delimitation of the State Border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia was established.

As the Deputy Prime Minister informed, it stems from the regulations on the activity of the commissions on delimitation of the state border between the RA and Azerbaijan that an international treaty on the state border will be signed between the two countries in the future, and it will undergo inner-state procedures.

Commissions of the two countries have so far held 9 meetings and jointly signed 2 protocols - the 8^th meeting of 19 April 2024, and the 9^th meeting of 15 May 2024. The regulations under debate was also signed. In particular, the protocol of the 8^th meeting envisages key procedural agreements on the delimitation process, including an agreement that the parties will be guided by the Almaty Declaration in the delimitation process. In the May protocol the commissions agreed the description of separate sections of the border line, with the purpose of aligning it with the legally substantiated inter-republican border that existed at the time of the USSR collapse, in accordance with the topographical map of the 1976 USSR General Staff of the Armed Forces which took effect in 1979. Mher Grigoryan underscored that the regulations were in fact signed on the basis of April 19, 2024 protocol because in accordance with the protocol the parties have agreed to be guided by the Almaty Declaration in the delimitation process.

The Deputy Prime Minister also informed that the RA Constitutional Court by the decision of September 26 of the current year recorded the alignment of the obligations stipulated in the regulations to the RA Constitution.

The Q &A session the opposition deputies were interested in the work of the Commission, location of the borders, maps, the delimitation process carried out in Tavush marz (province) in May and its legality, cadastre registration, the logic of sectoral delimitation, one-sided concessions, the ratification process of the document by Azerbaijan, the issue of the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the occupied territories of the Republic of Armenia and the demands sounding by Azerbaijan.

"This is the first bilateral legal treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to the document, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to enshrine the 1991 Almaty Declaration as a fundamental principle and be guided by that, which means that Armenia and Azerbaijan de jure reaffirmed the principle of the mutual recognition of the territorial integrity and the inviolability of the borders existed in the times of the Soviet Union, which is a fundamental factor for the establishment of peace," the co-rapporteur, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Sargis Khandanyan said. According to him, the regulations regulate the joint activity of the Commissions, define the list of the revising and accepting documents during the activity of the Commissions, the principles of the expert groups' works and the organization of the expenditures, procedural issues regarding the treaty on State Border to be signed at the end of the delimitation process.

It was noted that, according to the regulations, in the delimitation process the Commissions use all related cartographic documents, normative legal and legally based documents.

As Sargis Khandanyan informed, the issue of the alignment of the obligations enshrined in the regulations to the Constitution is a precondition to ratify the document by the National Assembly. "By the decision of the Constitutional Court these obligations align with the Constitution. The NA Expertise and Analytical Department also presented a conclusion on the regulations, concluding that all the necessary documents for the adoption of the draft were presented to the parliament: The draft does not need revision, and there is no need for the adoption of another law related to the draft or the NA decision," the deputy stated.

As the Chair of the Committee assessed, the debate of the issue in parliament is also a process stemming from the democratic principles. Sargis Khandanyan proposed his colleagues to endorse the draft, then he answered the deputies' questions.

In their speeches the parliamentarians expressed their observations on the document. There were positive and negative viewpoints.

The opposition MPs spoke about the absence of the ratification bases of the presented regulations and its negative consequences. There was an opinion that the regulations contain numerous risks and principles, do not include demand of ratifying it without reservations for the parties.

In his final speech Mher Grigoryan noted that reference will be made currently to the problematic issues. In response to the opposition deputies' criticism, the rapporteur emphasized the dialogue on the alternative proposals or models.

The Committee endorsed the issue with 5 against 3 votes.