Armenian opposition leader meets Czech MFA head

Karel Schwartzenberg, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Czech Republic, who made a three-day official visit to Yerevan, had a meeting late at night on July 6 with Levon Ter-Petrosyan, leader of Armenian opposition. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it at the office of the first President of Armenia.

Let us note here that Karel Schwartzenberg, who is considered to be one of the closest associates of former Czech President Vaclav Gavel, for many years was engaged in human rights activities, for a number of years headed the International Helsinki Committee and lived in emigration.

For this very reason the main topic in the agenda of Mr Schwartzenberg and Mr Ter-Petrosyan was the state of affairs with human rights in Armenia, democratic freedoms and, in particular, release of political prisoners. The meeting, organized on the initiative of the Czech party, was also attended by Ivan Jastrzhab, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Armenia (he has his residence in Tbilisi).

Making comments on the outcomes of the meeting, Levon Zurabyan, spokesman of the Centre of Nationwide Movement (a block comprising 22 political parties and several dozens of public organizations, which supported Levon Ter-Petrosyan at the recent presidential election), has noted that "both politicians understood each other perfectly" and expressed his satisfaction with the outcomes of the meeting.

However, no details of the meeting are reported.