The Washington Declaration provides Armenia with the opportunity to access the latest border and customs technologies, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a Q&A session with Cabinet members in parliament while responding to a question from “Armenia” faction MP Agnesa Khamoyan regarding the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group and agreements on regional communications.

Khamoyan recalled the Prime Minister's earlier statement that the OSCE Minsk Group would be dissolved after a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and asked why the government's position had changed. She also asked for clarification on whether Armenian border guards and customs officers would inspect Azerbaijani documents and cargo, and whether the Armenian judicial system would apply to Azerbaijani citizens.

Prime Minister Pashinyan explained that while some issues were unresolved in the peace agreement, they were addressed in the Washington Declaration in a manner acceptable to Armenia.

"You have probably noticed that the peace agreement does not address regional communications. And when we saw that a number of issues that had not been regulated within the framework of the peace agreement were being regulated in the declaration in a manner acceptable to us, we realized that we could not miss this chance.''

The Prime Minister emphasized that matters of jurisdiction and sovereignty concern Armenian state institutions, regardless of individuals' nationality.

“There is no legislation in the Republic that applies differently to Azerbaijanis than to, for example, Japanese citizens. But we need to introduce modern border control mechanisms already used in the United States, Great Britain, and the United Arab Emirates. Human contact will occur only when the device detects a problem,'' Pashinyan said.

He stressed that access to advanced technologies is crucial for Armenia. “On August 8, something much more important happened. We were given the opportunity to access these latest technologies. This will be not only for Azerbaijanis, but first and foremost for Armenian citizens, at all borders and airports. Border and customs control will meet the requirements of the 21st century,” he added.

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1229332