June 17, the third forum of the Armenian parties continued its work in the big hall of the parliament of Artsakh. Before the opening of the first plenary session, the participants of the forum observed a minute of silence in memory of the Artsakh Defense Army soldiers killed on the Artsakh-Azerbaijani border on June 16 and expressed condolences to their relatives.

Getting to the agenda of the meeting, the representatives of the political arena listened first to the report of the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, Vagharshak Harutyunyan on "The Security Issues of the Armenian States."

Then the former head of the National Security Service David Shahnazaryan delivered a report on "Our Security and Threats to World Security". Then "Our security and global security threats" report was presented by David Shahnazaryan, the former head of the National Security Service. The speakers outlined the challenges of internal and external security of the two Armenian states and stressed the importance of increasing the army combat readiness and further modernization of the Armed Forces.

The second plenary session, conducted by the Republic of Artsakh Prime Minister, Araik Harutyunyan, concerned the role of parties in the context of new political realities conditioned by constitutional reforms in the Armenian states.

Hrayr Tovmasyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Armenia on State and Legal Issues and Human Rights Protection, made a speech as the main speaker. The report, in particular, presented the objective factors, guided by which the Republic of Armenia elected a parliamentary form of governance, and the Republic of Artsakh - a presidential one.

Responding to questions from members of the parties and experts, the speaker stressed the importance of speedy implementation of the provisions of the constitution and the need to overcome the existing obstacles.

In the afternoon the third plenary session continued its work, chaired by the Republic of Artsakh National Assembly President, Ashot Ghoulyan. Former Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Torosyan delivered a report on "The Role of Armenian Parties in the Realities of New State and Political Systems". During the exchange of views, the representatives of the political scene touched the features of the activity of the Armenian parties, the prospects for development and other issues.

According to the program of the inter-party forum, after the completion of the plenary sessions, the participants held discussions in working groups.

Speeches were delivered by Armenian MP Gagik Minasyan, member of the National Commission on Television and Radio of Armenia Tigran Hakobyan and former Human Rights Defender Larisa Alaverdyan.

The challenges of socio-economic development of the countries, the role of media in the information war, the importance of issues related to democratic development and civil institutions have been discussed. At the end of the day, the conference summarized the results of the discussions of the working group.

 The completion and closing ceremony of the forum is scheduled for June 18.