Thank you.
Of course, as I mentioned in my testimony, the report of Stéphane Dion became a very important basis on which the Canadian government made the decision to open an embassy in Armenia. We truly hope the embassy will be open very soon, hopefully in the summer.
I can tell you why, from the Armenian perspective, it is very important. At the same time, I'm here to stress the importance from a Canadian perspective as well. I would like to quote from the Stéphane Dion report and give some thoughts that he shared in his report as to why Canada decided to open an embassy in Armenia and not in Azerbaijan. As you understand, I was following last week's hearings and I heard some questions and witnesses pointing out the necessity of having embassies in the two countries.
Though Stéphane Dion's report concentrated mainly on supporting the Armenian democracy and finding ways for Canada to support that democracy, at the same time he understood quite well that our security is directly connected with our democracy. That's why he's calling the Armenian democracy fragile.
In his report, he makes one mention of the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict:
The risks of war decrease with the advance of democracy. The more two countries in conflict move towards democracy, the more they maximize their chances of finding common ground and a peaceful settlement. To put it bluntly, when Azerbaijan makes decisive progress towards more democracy, Canada should consider ways to increase its presence there. By doing so, Canada would support the democratic transition in Azerbaijan as well as the prospects for peace with Armenia.
Again, this is a very important point that is raised in this report, because for us, as a democratic country, it would have been much easier to negotiate with a democratic Azerbaijan than with this corrupt regime in Azerbaijan.
Thank you.