In her post on X (formerly Twitter) Buric described her meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian as “excellent.”
“The Council of Europe will continue to support Armenia in its reform process,” she wrote.
According to Pashinian’s office, during the meeting the Armenian prime minister, in particular, presented the principles of the Crossroads of Peace, a program of regional connectivity and dialogue with neighboring countries that is being promoted by official Yerevan.
Pashinian also reportedly emphasized the role of the Council of Europe in addressing the problems of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and providing relevant international support.
Yerevan says more than 100,000 Armenians were forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan carried out a one-day military offensive to establish full control of the region last September.
While in Yerevan, Pejcinovic Buric also met with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
Mirzoyan’s office said that cooperation between Armenia and the Council of Europe as well as issues of regional stability were discussed during the meeting.
It said the sides exchanged views on addressing “the mid-term and long-term needs” of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.
The Armenian minister and the visiting secretary general of the Council of Europe also reportedly touched upon steps aimed at establishing a sustainable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus.
While in Yerevan Pejcinovic Buric also met with Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonian.
Late last year Pejcinovic Buric also visited Baku where she met with Azerbaijan’s president and foreign minister.
During her meeting with President Ilham Aliyev the secretary general of the Council of Europe welcomed the ongoing dialogue between Baku and Yerevan regarding a peace treaty and the agreement reached between the two governments regarding the release of detainees.
As a result of the agreement announced by Azerbaijan and Armenia last December, Baku released 32 Armenian prisoners, while Yerevan handed over two detainees to Azerbaijan.
The visiting Council of Europe official today declined to comment on what the organization is doing in terms of getting the other Armenian detainees held in Baku released.
A group of Armenian opposition members held a protest in Yerevan today, demanding that the Council of Europe take action to get 23 Armenians currently imprisoned in Baku, including former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, released.
The Armenian opposition also demanded that the Council of Europe put pressure on the leadership in Yerevan to release whom it claims to be political prisoners in Armenia.
“The demand is very clear. It must be stated that, yes, citizens exercising their right to free speech in the Republic of Armenia are persecuted, and it is a case of political persecution, therefore they are political prisoners,” Aspram Krpeyan, a member of the opposition Hayastan faction in the Armenian parliament, said during the protest in front of the Foreign Ministry building.
The Armenian government says there are no political prisoners in the country. Leading international human rights groups do not confirm the presence of any political prisoners in Armenia either.