‘Such disgrace should not be tolerated’: Mikayel Melkumyan at the PACE

During the plenary session of the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), MP Mikayel Melkumyan from the Prosperous Armenia faction delivered a speech regarding the questioning of the powers of the Russian delegation. He emphasized the need to ensure normal working conditions for all delegations, stating that the issue should be discussed once, concluded, and moved on to constructive activities. Otherwise, as a member of a country represented in the Assembly, he could question the effectiveness of discussions within the organization.

The speech in full:

“Dear colleagues, first, I would like to say that Mr. Tiny Cox presented a very positive report. I hope and believe that we should not restrict the powers of the Russian delegation. Yes, I understand the various issues raised by our colleagues in their statements, but I want to reiterate that the Russian delegation should be present in PACE.

I am not against discussing various issues there, but I think that the agendas formed in our Assembly should not be continuously repetitive and should not have an artificial nature. In this case, the discussion concerning the Russian delegation must be formulated very clearly and concretely so that it does not turn into an everyday topic.

You know that the Russian delegation was absent for about five years, and yes, efforts were made for its return. Among other issues, it was essential that the Russian people could benefit from all the institutions of the Council of Europe.

I do not hide the fact that I have political partners among various delegations, including the Russian delegation, who are decent, principled people. However, I view the discussion of this issue as one whereby any country, while defending its national and state interests, should not sharply contrast them with other democratic values and institutions. In other words, the truth should not have double standards; it must be the same for everyone.

We must ensure normal working conditions for all delegations and refrain from extremes. Yes, we should discuss the issue once, conclude it, and move on to our constructive activities; otherwise, as a member of a country represented in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I can also question the effectiveness of discussions in this organization. After all, we are discussing various issues here, but many issues do not receive effective solutions.

I repeat: national, state interests of a given country should not be contrasted with democratic values. Of course, this should not reach the level of xenophobia between two countries and their peoples. This is what we observe in relation to Azerbaijan, where the situation has even reached that, in a relatively neutral cultural field, we experience problems.

The issue concerns the incident between Armenian soprano Ruzan Mantashyan and Azerbaijani tenor Aivazov. The latter refused to sing with Ruzan Mantashyan during the annual ceremony for the opening of the Dresden opera ball, resulting in the cancellation of the Armenian singer's invitation. It is said that this problem has likely been resolved; nonetheless, such disgrace should not be tolerated, and it is necessary to raise our voice in protest and take a firm stance on the matter.

There is a well-known saying: it is said that sometimes democracy should be protected from the people. Today we must carry out very effective discussions that serve the interests of all peoples and states, and I believe we have that opportunity to proceed calmly and, of course, to provide an opportunity for the Russian delegation to resume its normal activities. I think we should go this way.”