On day two of the 89th Rose-Roth Seminar, during the third session, the participants in the gathering held a discussion on “Nagorno Karabakh: The Role of Mediation”, moderated by Mr Julio Miranda Calha, Portugal, General Rapporteur at the NATO PA Defence and Security Committee, and on this occasion the speakers were: Mr Ashot Hovakimian, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia; Mr Zaur Shiriyev, Academy Robert Bosch Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, United Kingdom; Mr Laurence Broers, Caucasus Programme Associate, Conciliation Resources; and Mr Jacques Faure, Former Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The fourth session of the Seminar was dedicated to the topic: “NATO’s Partnerships in the South Caucasus”, moderated by Mr Ojars Erisk Kalnins, Latvia, General Rapporteur of the NATO PA Political Committee, and the participants in the gathering were addressed on the subject by the following: Mr Steffen Elgersma, Senior Expert at Euro-Atlantic Integration & Partnership, NATO HQ; Mr David Shahnazaryan, Senior Analyst at the Regional Studies Center (RSC) from Armenia; and Ms Ghia Nodia, Chairperson of the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, and Director of the International School of Caucasus Studies, Ilia Chavchavadze State University, Tbilisi.

Part of the gathering dedicated to the topic “Building Integrity as Part of Defence Reform in Armenia” was moderated by Mr Simon Lunn, Former Secretary General of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Senior Fellow, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and Senior Associate at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, which was followed by speeches by Mr Ara Nazaryan, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, and Mr Richard Giragosian, Director Regional Studies Center (RSC) from Yerevan.

During the sixth session on the topic “Closed borders: Challenges for Economic Development, Stability and Peace”, the discussion was moderated by Ms Beatriz Rodriguez-Salmones, Vice Chairperson of the NATO PA Political Committee, and on this occasion the participants in the gathering were addressed by the following: Mr Alexander Iskandaryan, Director of the Caucasus Institute; Ms Amanda Paul, Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre from Brussels; and Ms Burcu Gültekin Punsmann, Program Coordinator of International Affairs, Senior Researcher at the Intra-and Inter-Societal Sources of Instability in the Caucasus and EU Opportunities to Respond (ISSICEU), Ankara Policy Center.

89th Rose-Roth Seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, supported by the Swiss Government, gathers parliamentarians from NATO member states and partner states, representatives of governments, international organisations, NGOs, universities, and representatives of public opinion.

Permanent Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro in this Seminar is represented by its member Mr Borislav Banović.

The 89th Rose-Roth Seminar of the NATO PA will continue tomorrow.