Day: September 15, 2023

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, together with his wife Anna Hakobyan, has arrived in the Czech Republic on a two-day official visit.

In the afternoon, the Prime Minister of Armenia will have a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala. First, a private conversation between the Prime Ministers of the two countries will take place, and then the negotiations will continue in an expanded format, in the sidelines of an official dinner. Nikol Pashinyan and Peter Fiala will make statements for the media.

Next, the Prime Minister of Armenia will have meetings with the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament, Markéta Pekarová Adamová, and the President of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil.

Nikol Pashinyan will visit the Center for Transatlantic Relations in Prague.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is on a two-day official visit to the Czech Republic, had a meeting with the Prime Minister of that country, Petr Fiala. First, the official welcoming ceremony of Prime Minister Pashinyan took place, the national anthems of both countries were performed, after which the Prime Ministers greeted the members of the delegations.

Afterwards, Nikol Pashinyan and Petr Fiala had a private conversation, followed by the negotiations continued in an expanded format within the framework of the official dinner.

A wide range of issues related to the further development and expansion of Armenian-Czech relations were discussed at the meeting. In particular, the partnership in the political, economic, and humanitarian spheres and the prospects of their deepening were discussed.

Prime Minister Pashinyan referred to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor and highlighted the consistent response of the international community to what is happening.

After the meeting, Nikol Pashinyan and Petr Fiala made statements summarizing the results of the negotiations for media representatives and answered their questions.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala – Good day ladies and gentlemen. I am very happy to have the opportunity to welcome the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia here in Prague again. I am very happy because this year we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of our excellent diplomatic relations.

During the previous meeting with the Prime Minister, we shared the opinion that we highly value our friendly relations. We agreed that we share the same democratic values and confirmed this by now signing the joint statement on our diplomatic relations. Both sides hope that cooperation will expand and deepen in various fields.

When I mention that we share the same democratic values, I am not saying it just for itself, this statement is not an end in itself, we should value the role Armenia plays in the region. We should also commend the fact that the European Parliament published a report in March this year, in which it emphasized that Armenia is the leader in the region in terms of democracy.

Such things do not just happen, it’s necessary to work in that direction, we must definitely support that position, that situation and support the country. I am sure that we will see its reflection in the relations between our two countries, as well as in the relations between Armenia and the European Union. Armenia is moving forward in this way, rising to a higher level, and this is an interesting factor for additional further reforms.

In October 2022, the Prime Minister participated in the first summit of the “European Political Community”. At that summit, we talked about many global issues, various challenges, and we also managed to organize a meeting of the Prime Minister with the President of Azerbaijan, Aliyev. In that sense, Prague became one of the places where an attempt was made to take a step forward in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Armenia is among the priority countries in our transformation cooperation program. That program is mainly about supporting civil society, human rights and independent media. I already mentioned that we have friendly relations between the Czech Republic and Armenia, successful relations, which we want to further deepen.

We also see additional opportunities for deepening our cooperation in the field of economy, science, research and education. Let me mention a few areas, for example, nuclear energy and energy in general. Nuclear energy is very important for both the Czech Republic, and Armenia. Czech scientists are involved in safety improvement works at the Metsamor nuclear power plant, our experts are participating in ongoing repairs, and this is an example of our successful cooperation.

The Czech Republic can also offer many high-quality technologies to Armenia, for example, in the field of smart cities. We presented our smart city technologies last year during a conference we organized for the Eastern Partnership countries. We are also glad to see that our cooperation in the field of aviation continues to deepen. There is a plan, it is possible to produce small airplanes of “Balus Tech” company in the city of Stepanavan, where an airport was built after the earthquake.

There are several other important factors, the 6th session of the Czech-Armenian intergovernmental commission will take place here in Prague. It is an intergovernmental commission that will deal with issues of economic and industrial cooperation. During that meeting, naturally, other areas of cooperation will be outlined.

I am also happy that our societies are able to get to know each other much better now, our peoples have more opportunities to learn about Armenian culture and the Armenian language. I would like to mention two new initiatives. First, at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, in February of this year, a department, or a chair of Armenian art and culture was opened, and in the future, the teaching of the Armenian language will be resumed at Charles University.

You see, ladies and gentlemen, our two countries cooperate in many directions in various public spheres: culture, education, scientific research works, and it is wonderful.

We are not indifferent to all the problems and challenges facing Armenia. We are aware of the difficult situation, the political, security, geographical situation. We are concerned about the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is caused by the blockade of the Lachin Corridor. We agree with the position of the European Union on this matter. We believe that all possible steps should be taken to establish peace and stability in Nagorno-Karabakh and the entire Caucasus region.

As for the territorial integrity and the discussions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, we emphasize the fact that a peace agreement should be signed that will be acceptable to all parties. Through our discussions with the Prime Minister, I understood that Armenia is, of course, interested in the prospect of strengthening peace and stability in the region. Armenia is very interested in finding lasting solutions.

Thank you again, Mr. Prime Minister, for the visit, thank you for having an open and honest discussion with me, thank you for the development of Czech-Armenian relations, thank you for looking for new areas of cooperation. And I can assure you that the Czech Republic will take the necessary steps in its international policy, on all international platforms, to help you achieve lasting stability and peace in your country.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan

Honorable Mr. Prime Minister,

Dear media representatives,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am glad to be in the Czech Republic today on an official visit. The visit takes place on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and the Czech Republic. Armenia attaches great importance to the continuous development and strengthening of relations with the Czech Republic, for which all prerequisites are present. This is also evidenced by the high-level mutual visits between our countries.

I must note with satisfaction that the friendly relations between our peoples, based on a common value system, continue to strengthen and deepen thanks to consistent work.

I am deeply grateful to Mr. Fiala for the invitation and warm welcome. Today, Mr. Prime Minister and I had quite rich discussions in a constructive atmosphere, which cover various spheres of bilateral cooperation. Apart from the bilateral agenda, we also touched on issues of security and regional developments.

I highly commend existing cooperation between our two countries in both bilateral and multilateral formats, including in the context of the Armenia-EU partnership, as well as the Czech Republic’s active support for the development of these relations.

I thanked Prime Minister Fiala for supporting Armenia’s democracy. In this context, I emphasized the Czech Republic’s support for the decision to deploy a long-term EU monitoring mission on the territory of Armenia along the border with Azerbaijan.

I regret to note that despite all efforts, the situation in our region remains tense. The reason for this is that, despite the well-known agreements, Azerbaijan continues the policy of using force and the threat of force, constantly escalating the situation on the border with Armenia, in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the Lachin Corridor.

Azerbaijan’s decision to install a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor and the blockade of the corridor before that are a gross violation of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020 and the interim decision of the International Court of Justice in February. For four months, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have been deprived of the possibility of free movement. Moreover, Azerbaijan disrupted the supply of natural gas and electricity to Nagorno-Karabakh. Food is sold in coupons in Nagorno-Karabakh and thus we have a humanitarian crisis there.

We believe that the international community should make a clear and targeted assessment of the situation, especially since in our opinion the above-mentioned actions of Azerbaijan are preparations for carrying out ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this context, we consider it necessary to send an international fact-finding team to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor.

At the same time, I would like to emphasize that despite all the difficulties, the Armenian government has adopted the peace agenda. We believe that peace in our region has no alternative, which is not just a goal, but also a means for the normalization and further development of relations between peoples and states.

We are fully involved in the negotiation process with Azerbaijan and will remain involved in the near future, being ready to record results, and not to negotiate for the sake of negotiation. To achieve this goal, we hope that Azerbaijan will renounce the policy of using force and the threat of force, and we expect that the international community will also issue a similar message addressed to Azerbaijan.

Dear attendees,

Armenia and the Czech Republic have the necessary legal and effective tools for close cooperation, there are the prerequisites for further deepening of bilateral relations, which you also rightly emphasized.

Today, the sixth session of the Armenian-Czech intergovernmental commission is being held in Prague, within the framework of which an Armenian-Czech business forum will also be held. I am confident that both the session and the business forum will further contribute to the expansion of Armenian-Czech economic relations. Armenia attaches great importance to the most effective use of the existing potential of our two countries in the economic, trade and investment spheres, and we are interested in the development of cooperation in all the directions that you have listed.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you again for the warm welcome. I am confident that this visit will add new quality and substance to Armenian-Czech relations. Thank you.

ARMENPRESS news agency – My question is about economic cooperation between the two countries. When we look at the trade and economic indicators, in 2022, of course, there was an increase compared to the previous year, but the indicators seem to be modest, where the main structure is the import from the Czech Republic to Armenia, while the indicator from Armenia to the Czech Republic is even smaller. Where do you see the problems and what priorities will you indicate for the near future in order to activate the economic relations between the sides?

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan – Of course, we also discussed that agenda and talked about the activation of exports from Armenia to the Czech market. Of course, I am thankful to Prime Minister Fiala for his willingness to provide support in this matter.

Of course, we are also discussing these issues in Armenia. There are political, economic and other problems related to entering the European Union market, but addressing this message mainly to our economy, I think that, as I have had many occasions to point out in Armenia, it is important that we work in the direction of constantly raising the quality standards of our production and products. But already now, we can record that there are products that can already be competitive in the Czech market today by their standards. During the meeting, our ambassadors confirmed that this potential exists, and they promised to actively deal with this issue.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala – I would only like to say that we are happy that the volume of trade is increasing. The increase in 2022 was not little, it actually increased by 157 percent, which is a sharp increase in foreign trade. And that’s good. Of course, you are right when you say that the foreign trade turnover is not completely balanced. We also talked about what products might be interesting to export to the Czech market. I think we have compiled an adequate list of those products.

As for boosting bilateral trade, it depends on many factors. For example, we agreed that we want to deepen the ties, deepen ties between peoples, tourism. All this will contribute to bilateral cooperation and strengthening of trust. Eventually people will find your products more attractive as well. I believe that there are other steps and measures being taken apart from trade and economic measures that will help to improve the trade balance in the future.

Public TV Company – My question is addressed to the two Prime Ministers. First of all, Mr. Fiala, the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was already discussed, you mentioned that you understood from your conversation with Mr. Pashinyan that Armenia is ready to establish peace and is moving towards it, but instead, Azerbaijan continues to threaten by setting up a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor, constantly harshens the rhetoric, carries out aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia. To what extent is it possible to go to peace under these conditions, how do you assess these actions of Azerbaijan? And also, don’t you see the need to impose sanctions on the government and leadership of Azerbaijan? Also, Mr. Pashinyan, how is it possible to make peace with Azerbaijan in this situation?

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala – The Czech Republic can and will support peace initiatives and efforts that will lead to stability in the region. Earlier, in my introductory speech, I said that the recognition of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Armenia and Azerbaijan is of fundamental importance. Here in Prague, a step was taken during the first summit of the European Political Community, which I had the honor of hosting.

It can be considered a historical milestone in the relations between the two countries. Of course, it would not be in the interest of the exisiting situation if I unilaterally assess who and how violates what. Our common goal, the joint goal of the Czech Republic and the EU member states, is to achieve stability in the region and lasting, long-lasting peace, which also means guaranteeing the rights of Armenia, guaranteeing the rights of Armenians. It is an important factor.

We have taken concrete steps in this direction. The Czech Republic contributed to the deployment of the monitoring mission, there are Czech experts in the mission. We are ready to participate in other measures and other similar activities that will help de-escalate the situation and allow us to reach a lasting and comprehensive peace and a peaceful solution.

The Prime Minister informed me in detail about his steps and how he sees the situation, how the negotiations are going. I think this is very valuable for me, because I have a unique opportunity to convey this information to my European colleagues, and based on this, we can consider and find out what steps will be appropriate, what steps the European Union can take to support the efforts for permanent and lasting peace in the region.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan – Thank you, dear journalists, honorable Mr. Prime Minister, lately, especially from the platform of our parliamentary debates, I have been constantly saying that questions can be answered, approached and responded to from several perspectives.

And I’ve been trying to test other perspectives in the context of the conversations we’ve had in the recent period, apart from the ones that are obvious. What the respected journalist said in his question is absolute and complete truth, but I can say the following: In your question, yes, you also rightly question the possibility of peace under these conditions.

I would like to notice that by the logic of changing the point of view, your question and content emphasize the need for peace, because on the one hand, one can ask how peace is possible under these conditions, but on the other hand, based on this, it can be emphasized that peace is necessary. We try not only to have an obvious point of view to that and similar events, not only to approach from the obvious point of view, but also to try to look at it from another point of view. And to your question, also using this platform, and also in the presence of my esteemed partner, I want to emphasize that all of this actually emphasizes the need for peace, and we must serve that need, build our policy by positioning ourselves correctly in relation to that need.

Question from the Czech media – Prime Minister Fiala, you already mentioned the blocking of Lacin Corridor. I want to ask you again: why is the Czech government silent, why is the Czech media silent, how can the Czech Republic influence Azerbaijan and why the European Union does not apply sanctions, because we do not see progress in this regard.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala – I am of the opinion that we should continue to take steps that will lead to a peaceful solution, we have created an opportunity for this in Prague, we support the efforts of Armenia aimed at a peaceful solution. I think that we should not look at the obstacles or the problems on this way, on the contrary, we should try to achieve a lasting peace, and to do this, we need the other side as well. We need Azerbaijanis, we need goodwill from both sides. It is not like that we will remain silent and not comment. During the opening speech, I already said that we have expressed concerns about the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the reason for which is the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.

The European Union made a statement, and we support that statement, and there is a call there to ensure the security and freedom of movement of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as a number of other things. But we should think about the future. I highly appreciate the peace-oriented perspective, the perspective with which the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia addresses this issue. I consider this the right approach, it is the right way. He can expect our support, the support of the European Union and other member states, because we have to keep one thing in mind, this cannot be a temporary solution.

We all need to consider how to provide the best approach and ensure development for Armenia, and for this we need lasting, permanent peace and security in the region. This should be our common goal in all our endeavors, we should be oriented at it.

* * *

Prime Ministers of Armenia and the Czech Republic Nikol Pashinyan and Petr Fiala signed a joint Declaration on the relations between the two countries after the meeting.

The Declaration reads as follows,

“The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala (hereinafter referred to as the Sides) upon the completion of the high-level talks conducted in the framework of the official visit of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to the Czech Republic,

In the context of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Czech Republic,

Mindful of long-standing traditions of friendship and cooperation and a strong sense of solidarity between the Armenian and Czech peoples, a rich historical and cultural heritage, common values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms being in the core of the bilateral relations,

Aiming to raise the bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level as well as to enhance cooperation in multilateral dimensions,

Declare:

The Republic of Armenia and the Czech Republic note with satisfaction a steady development and broadening of the political ties and express their unwavering commitment to further intensify the existing high-level political dialogue and economic cooperation at the bilateral level, as well as in the framework of the United Nations, Council of Europe, OSCE, and other international and regional organizations;

The Sides express their readiness to reinforce and broaden cooperation within the framework of the European Union initiatives, including the Eastern Partnership, and in the context of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), including but not limited to the Armenia-EU political and security dialogue as well as political, economic and sectoral cooperation, based on shared values and strong commitment to democracy, human rights, media freedom, and rule of law. The Czech Republic supports EU’s strong determination to enhance cooperation with Armenia, commends the progress of Armenia on the chosen democratic path and the principles of good governance, encourages further progress, and reiterates its readiness to assist Armenia in its reform path;

The Sides underline the importance of democratic principles, promotion and protection of human rights and rule of law;

The Sides attach importance to sharing transformation experience and encouraging cooperation of civil society members and engagement of civil society in reform process;

The Sides underline necessity to reach a peaceful and lasting settlement of all outstanding issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Armenian side highly appreciates the continuous efforts of the European Union towards creating an environment conducive to lasting peace in the South Caucasus;

The Sides regard the deployment of the European Union Mission in Armenia along the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, launched on February 20, as a substantial contribution to the strengthening of the security in the region; Armenia welcomes and highly appreciates a sizeable personnel contribution of the Czech Republic to the mission.

The Sides recognize the importance of maintaining international peace and security, inadmissibility of threat or use of force, and respect for international humanitarian law;

The Sides are mindful of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter that all states shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state and shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means. They stress the importance of all states inherent right to choose their policy course and alliances;

The Sides are aware that the question of future Visa Liberalization Dialogue between the Republic of Armenia and the EU is of the high importance;

The Sides consider the European Political Community as a useful format for the European Union and its partners. Armenia praises Czech Presidency in the Council of the EU for hosting the inaugural summit for EPC;

The Sides attach special importance to invigorating the activities of the Armenian-Czech Intergovernmental Commission, aiming at strengthening the mutually beneficial economic, financial, and scientific ties between the two countries;

The Sides express their support to the further development of cooperation and regular exchanges between the Parliaments of the two countries, including through the relevant friendship groups;

The Sides attach special importance to invigorating the decentralized cooperation and partnership between local authorities of the two countries, as an additional impetus for the development of bilateral relations;

Toward this end, the Sides express their strong determination to make every effort for effective cooperation in the areas outlined in this Declaration”.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel at the presidential residence of the Prague Castle.

The interlocutors discussed a number of issues related to the further development and strengthening of Armenian-Czech relations. In particular, cooperation in both the political and economic spheres was emphasized. Cooperation in the fields of high technologies, education, and tourism was considered promising. The Czech side noted that they are interested in the experience of Tumo centers in Armenia and cooperation in the direction of opening a similar center in Prague.

The parties exchanged ideas on the developments taking place in the South Caucasus region. Prime Minister Pashinyan presented details about the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor and emphasized the importance of the international community’s consistent response. Both sides emphasized the need to implement the decision of the UN International Court on unblocking the corridor.

In the context of strengthening peace and stability, the deployment of the European Union civilian mission in Armenia was highlighted.

Reference was also made to the Armenian-Turkish dialogue.

Prime Minister Pashinyan laid a wreath at the National Memorial on the Vítkov Hill, paying tribute to the memory of the unknown soldier.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament Markéta Pekarová Adamová

The interlocutors emphasized the steps aimed at the further development and expansion of cooperation between the parliamentarians of the two countries, as well as aimed at cooperation in international structures. Markéta Pekarová Adamová informed that she plans to visit Armenia in the near future accompanied by the MPs of the bilateral friendship group.

Prime Minister Pashinyan welcomed the initiative and added that Armenia is interested in expanding ties with the Czech Republic in various directions.

At the meeting, reference was made to the processes taking place in the South Caucasus, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulted by the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the activities of the European Union’s civilian mission in Armenia and other topics.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Prague Center for Transatlantic Relations, where he gave a speech and answered the questions of representatives of expert circles. The meeting was attended by Tomáš Pojar, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Alexandr Vondra, the director of the center, and members of the Czech Parliament.

In his speech, the Prime Minister, in particular, noted.

“Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here today and address this distinguished audience. And I would like to express my appreciation to Mr. Alexander Vondra and his team for organizing and moderating this event.

Armenia has traditionally friendly relations with the Czech Republic based on common values and is willing to enhance our cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. My visit coincides with the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our countries. During the past 30 years, Armenia and the Czech Republic have developed a solid bilateral agenda covering a wide range of areas, including active political dialogue and partnership in different fields of mutual interest.

Today I would like to speak about Armenia’s democratic journey in a region that has been marked by turbulence and uncertainty and to share with you Armenia’s progress towards building a stable democracy in the face of many challenges.

Armenia’s commitment to democratic development is a result of the non-violent revolution in 2018, which was inspired, among others, by the principles of the Velvet Revolution in former Czechoslovakia, led by Vaclav Havel.

After the revolution, my government initiated wide-ranging democratic reforms that included the fight against corruption, the shadow economy and economic monopolies. We have safeguarded the freedom of speech and expression and turned the page of falsified elections, ensuring that the free expression of citizens’ will is the only legitimate source of power.

As a result, we have been able to achieve impressive economic growth: 7.6 percent in 2019, 5.7 percent in 2021, and 12.6 in 2022. The number of workplaces grew by around 32 percent in 2022 over 2017. Tax revenues grew by over 66 percent in 2022 over 2017. Armenia’s sovereign rating has been upgraded. So have Armenia’s international rankings in respect of economic and democratic performance, most notably regarding the freedom of expression and respect for human rights.

My country currently leads the “Democracy and Good Governance” rating table among the EU Eastern Partnership states in the following 5 areas: fight against corruption, independent judiciary, freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association, independent media and democratic rights, elections and political pluralism.

Nevertheless, the Armenian people’s trust in democracy is undermined due to the security challenges faced by Armenia in recent years.

In September 2020, Azerbaijan unleashed a war against Nagorno Karabakh.

In May 2021, it invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and in September 2022, initiated a new large-scale attack against Armenia, occupying some more of our sovereign territory.

These events took thousands of lives, destroyed civilian infrastructure, and caused many people to go missing, in addition to those held captive by Azerbaijan to this very day.

Dozens of thousands of Armenians have been forced to move out of their homes in Nagorno Karabakh, joining the hundreds of thousands that had become refugees because of Azerbaijan’s decades-long Armenophobic policies.

As it is widely known, the 2020 November trilateral statement legally stipulates that the Lachin Corridor must serve as a link between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. However, in gross violation of the said statement, from December 2022 Azerbaijan has imposed an unlawful blockade in the Lachin Corridor, causing a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh. Moreover, despite the interim measures ordered by the ICJ in February 2023, Azerbaijan unlawfully set up a check-point in the Lachin Corridor, further escalating the situation.

Azerbaijan not only has deprived the people of Nagorno Karabakh of the right to freedom of movement, but also has disconnected the supply of natural gas and electricity. There is a shortage of food and essential supplies in Nagorno Karabakh, and they are currently sold through coupons.

Our belief is that these are not isolated actions, but rather—Azerbaijan’s preparation for ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh. In this sense, we consider it necessary to dispatch an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabkh and the Lachin Corridor; the international community needs to make a clear and pointed assessment of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh. This is important for not only the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, but also the future of democracy in our region, because the main question hanging in the air in the Republic of Armenia is WHETHER democracy can ensure security and stability in our region.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In spite of all this, our perception of this situation is guided primarily by the following democratic considerations: there is no alternative to peace in our region. On the sidelines of the First Summit of the European Political Community held here in Prague in October 2022, we laid a solid foundation for achieving peace in our region, during the four-party meeting between French President Macron, President of the European Council Michel, Azerbaijan’s President, and myself.

The main outcome of that meeting was that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other’s territorial integrity with the territories that the two republics had when gaining independence from the Soviet Union, as per the 1991 Almaty Declaration, which will be the basis for the subsequent delimitation of the borders. This understanding was reaffirmed during the trilateral meeting held in Sochi on 31 October 2022, where the sides underlined that the outstanding issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be resolved only on the basis of the 1991 Almaty Declaration and the UN Charter, renouncing the use of force or the threat of force.

Nevertheless, Azerbaijan continues its policy of threatening the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and using force and the threat of force, constantly escalating the situation on the border with Armenia, as well as in Nagorno Karabakh.

Despite all this, Armenia remains committed to the policy of resolving the outstanding issues through negotiations, and we are ready to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

At the moment, the main obstacles to signing such an agreement are the following: it has so far been impossible to agree upon language that will clearly state that Azerbaijan recognizes the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia with 29 thousand 800 square kilometers.

The mechanism for safeguarding the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh is still uncertain; so is the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue format, which in our opinion should take place in the framework of an international mechanism.

It has so far been impossible to agree upon mechanisms for overcoming differences in the reading of the peace agreement text.

And finally, there is no agreement on international mechanisms for implementing the peace agreement.

We do, however, continue our efforts in order to succeed in all these areas. For four days now, Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations, with facilitation by the United States, have been negotiating in Washington for resolving all these issues.

To conclude, I would like to highlight that as a result of the four-party meeting held in Prague on 6 October 2022, an important development occurred in the Armenia-EU relationship. It was decided to deploy a short-term monitoring mission of the EU on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, which later evolved into a decision to deploy a long-term mission that started operating in Armenia in February.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Czech Republic for supporting this decision, which is yet another manifestation of support to Armenia’s democracy.

Thank you for your attention. And we can now take some questions”.

Next, the Prime Minister answered a number of questions from the audience, which related to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, negotiations with Azerbaijan, processes taking place in the South Caucasus and other topics.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, Miloš Vistarčil.

The interlocutors emphasized the further development and expansion of cooperation between parliamentarians of the two countries, referred to the negotiations and results of Prime Minister Pashinyan’s official visit to the Czech Republic.

At the meeting, reference was made to the processes taking place in the South Caucasus, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulted by the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the activities of the European Union’s civilian mission in Armenia and other topics.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community in the Czech Republic in Prague.

The Prime Minister answered many questions of the attendees, which related to the developments in the region, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the steps taken in the security sector, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulted by the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, opportunities for the involvement of Diaspora specialists in Armenia’s state administration system within the framework of the “iGorts” program and other programs, Armenia-Diaspora relations, economy, tourism, culture and other fields.

In Prague, Prime Minister Pashinyan laid flowers at the khachkar dedicated to Armenian-Czech friendship in the park of Saint Jindrich and Kunhuta Church.

Within the framework of the visit, the Prime Minister visited the European regional headquarters of RFE/RL in Prague. After the meeting with director Jamie Fly, Nikol Pashinyan gave an interview to the Armenian service of the radio station.

The Prime Minister’s official visit to the Czech Republic is over.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in the Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin, on a working visit with his wife, Anna Hakobyan.

As part of the visit, the Prime Minister will have a meeting with Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz today. After the negotiations, the Armenian Prime Minister and the German Chancellor will meet with the media representatives to summarize the results of the meeting.

On March 2, Nikol Pashinyan will visit the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Prime Minister Pashinyan is scheduled to meet with the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on March 3.

A number of other meetings will also take place within the framework of the visit.

* * *

The meeting between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz took place in Berlin. First, the leaders of the two countries had a private conversation, after which they presented details of the results of the negotiations and answered the journalists’ questions at the meeting with the media representatives.

Chancellor Scholz said in his speech. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to welcome the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Berlin today. Today we had a very good intensive exchange of ideas about deepening the relationship. You have followed and seen that Prime Minister Pashinyan has started a process of comprehensive reforms in his country. We want to continue helping Armenia within our capabilities on this path. We took an important step last year, Germany resumed development cooperation with Armenia. At the European level, we are working within the framework of the Eastern Partnership to help on the path of reform here as well.

We also talked about Russia’s war of aggression and its considerable impact on Ukraine, as well as Armenia and the South Caucasus.

I realize that Armenia particularly feels this impact. That is why it is more important that Armenia and Azerbaijan go step by step to a long-term solution. The Prime Minister presented me with the latest developments in Nagorno Karabakh, we are concerned about the instability on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the worsening humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh. The status quo cannot continue and a long-term solution should be achieved for the good of the people.

In this regard, it is necessary to reach a peaceful settlement from the point of view of the territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the self-determination of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh. Moreover, all these principles are equal.

Germany supports the mediation efforts of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and we have done the same by sending our personnel as part of the EU observation mission. Moreover, a German federal police officer will lead that mission.

We exchanged ideas about the quadrilateral meeting held in Prague, we also touched on trade and economic relations. Germany is the most important trade and economic partner in the European Union, in this context I asked the Prime Minister and encourage him to continue his fight against corruption. We touched on other issues as well, I thank the Prime Minister for his visit. I am sure that in the future we will have many other questions and will discuss them.”

In turn, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted.

“Dear Mr. Chancellor,
Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank my colleague Olaf Scholz for his warm welcome and meaningful and productive discussions.

Our delegation and I noted with satisfaction that there is a high level of political dialogue between Armenia and Germany. Our relations are actively developing both bilaterally and multilaterally, as evidenced by recent high-level mutual visits and active contacts.

We discussed issues related to Armenia-Germany trade and economic cooperation. We attached importance to the continuous efforts of both sides in the direction of maintaining the positive dynamics of growth of trade turnover and encouraging mutual investments.

Armenia attaches great importance to the inclusion of Armenia as a bilateral partner within the “BMZ 2030” reform strategy of the German Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation, which provides an excellent opportunity to ensure the stable continuity of current reforms and programs in Armenia.

We referred to the Armenian-German financial and technical cooperation, in particular, to the activities of the German international cooperation agencies GIZ and KFW in Armenia. We hope that the opening of KfW and GIZ local offices in the near future will be a new impetus for the development of cooperation between the two countries.

Germany and Armenia have a long experience of cooperation in the field of environmental protection, in the conditions of the changing climate, we are interested in developing this cooperation in the fields of water resources management, forest restoration and renewable energy. We are also interested in the development of “green hydrogen”.

I should note with satisfaction that effective cooperation between the two countries is developing in the field of science and education. There is effective cooperation between Armenian and German universities and individual scientists, which has great potential for development.

Joint cultural events and contacts between people are also extremely important.

During our meeting, we also touched upon the inter-parliamentary cooperation, noting with satisfaction, in particular, the active contacts and visits of the parliamentarians during the last few years.

Decentralized cooperation also plays an important role in bilateral relations, where we have already established many examples of cooperation.

We both emphasized that there is a great development potential in the relations between Armenia and Germany and we expressed our willingness to consistently cooperate with joint efforts in forming a new, more ambitious agenda.

Armenia-EU partnership was also on the agenda of our meeting. We emphasized the importance of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, which opens up new prospects for cooperation with EU member states in bilateral format.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to once again express our gratitude to the German government for supporting the decision to deploy a new EU long-term monitoring mission in Armenia and express my belief that this mission will play a significant role in establishing peace and security in the region. I also personally thanked Chancellor Scholz, because I know that his personal contribution to making that decision was very big.

Dear attendees,

One of the key topics of our discussions was, as the Chancellor said, the security situation in the South Caucasus and the challenges facing Armenia.

After signing the declaration on November 9, 2020, Armenia spared no effort to achieve the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and ensure the rights and security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Unfortunately, instead of participating in negotiations in good faith, the Azerbaijani side continues its unconstructive policy, threatens Armenia’s democracy, undermining our government’s efforts to establish peace, stability and security in the South Caucasus.

Today, the most urgent issue is that since December 12, 2022 the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the outside world, the Lachin Corridor, has been closed by Azerbaijan, as a result of which 120,000 residents have found themselves in a blockade. These actions of Azerbaijan in 2020 It is a gross violation of the obligations assumed by the tripartite declaration of November 9, which is a part of the large-scale and systematic policy of Azerbaijan aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is also important to emphasize that we think it could be very important to send an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh for a more comprehensive introduction to the situation of the international community. These actions of Azerbaijan are a gross violation of the obligations assumed by the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, which is a part of the large-scale and systematic policy of Azerbaijan aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. It’s also important to underline that we think it could be very important to send an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh for the international community to get a more comprehensive understanding of the situation.

I have to stress that on February 22 the International Court of Justice made a legally binding decision for Azerbaijan, obliging it to take all necessary measures to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles and cargo in both directions through the Lachin Corridor.

We call on our international partners to take active steps to ensure the immediate implementation of the court’s decision by Azerbaijan.

We attach importance to the clear position of Germany, a country of democracy, protection of human rights and preservation of universal values, which will support Armenia’s efforts towards stability and peace in the South Caucasus.

Dear attendees,
Dear Chancellor Scholz,

Concluding my speech, I thank you once again for the warm welcome and meaningful conversation. We are ready to make efforts to contribute to the expansion of the cooperation agenda between Armenia and Germany.”

Question – Public TV of Armenia – My question is addressed to Mr. Chancellor. For 81 days, Azerbaijan keeps the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the world, the Lachin Corridor, closed, violating the fundamental rights of the people living there and also creating a humanitarian crisis. As Mr. Prime Minister mentioned, on February 22, the Hague Court made a decision obliging Azerbaijan to ensure the free movement of people and goods through the Lachin Corridor. This decision is subject to mandatory implementation from the point of view of international law, but Azerbaijan still keeps the Lachin corridor closed. How do you assess Azerbaijan’s disregard for this decision of the UN International Court of Justice?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – Thank you for your question, you presented in detail the worrying nature of the situation. We have already talked about it in our discussion. I want to repeat what I clearly said at the beginning. we support the right to self-determination, also the principle of territorial integrity, and in general, we need to improve security in the region. We talked about that issue in detail. I am glad that the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, is participating and mediating. We also have our own efforts and role to play. It’s really difficult to lead, it’s very important, and I really appreciate the leadership of my colleague, it’s really impressive in this difficult situation.

Question – Mr. Federal Chancellor, I want to ask about circumventing sanctions against Russia. Trade decreased with the European Union, but increased with Armenia, and last month we learned from the Minister of Economy that sanctions are circumvented through third countries. maybe Armenia is also among those countries? Do you think it should be addressed?

Mr. Pashinyan, I would like to point out that the research shows that the actions of third countries to circumvent the sanctions have increased. What are you doing to overcome the steps aimed at circumvention?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – Thank you for this question. We talked about that too, it’s also part of our relationship. We hope that these principles are observed.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Thank you for the question. We, in line with our practice, and as a democratic country and as a country for which transparency is very important, we have told all our Western partners and we are telling them that we are ready and transparent in this matter. Yes, the numbers are changing, the numbers are changing all over the world, because the logistics chains, relationships are changing. I want to say that not only the imports from the EU to Armenia have increased, but also the exports from Armenia to the EU countries have increased, and that’s also conditioned by the fact that we are interested in establishing relations with the EU. As for the rumors about circumventing sanctions, I have to emphasize that they are nothing more than mere rumors. The reality is just the opposite. I have to bring an example. Last spring, a western owner took possession of an aircraft used by one of the Russian airlines from Armenia. And this, I think, is the most direct and clear example when we have shown that, respecting all our relations, all our partners, the legality of actions and activities is of fundamental importance to us. And I do not think that a country where such a thing has happened can be blamed for any other shady circumstances. On the other hand, we should follow the events with all attention to help the private sector not to engage in such activities that could spoil Armenia’s relations with any partner.

Question – After the deployment of European Union observers in Armenia, it is stated that a new agreement is needed between Armenia and the European Union, which will also include the security component, since it no longer corresponds to the level of relations that Armenia and the European Union have today. I want to know whether there are such issues on the agenda in this direction or not, and whether we can expect an increase in the number of observers from the European Union in the near future or not.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – I am very proud of this whole mission in general, first of all, it is a great investment, we will develop this mission and see.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – I already said that this topic was one of the topics of our discussion. We are very happy and grateful for the decision. But since you spoke about the agreement, now the presence of the EU observer mission is regulated by mutual official letters, but we also have an agreement that an agreement regulating that presence and mission should be discussed, negotiated and signed. And I think that we will probably sign a document regulating the presence of the monitoring mission in the near future, when we negotiate and reach a general agreement on the wording of the already reached agreements.

Question – Mr. Prime Minister, your country abstained from voting on the Ukraine resolution last week. Why are you unwilling to fully condemn Russia’s war of aggression?

Mr. Chancellor, you are going to the United States, you can also talk and meet with Biden. Mr. Mertz accuses you of covert activities and are you planning to discuss military industry issues in the United States as well?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Our country is doing everything to position itself on international platforms as a responsible member of the international community. I think we are taking and have taken very visible steps in this direction, and our principled position will continue to be maintained.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – Thank you for the question. This is the result of the quality of our transatlantic cooperation. We are talking about the relationship between the Chancellor of Germany and the President of the United States. We often talk to each other, exchange ideas, also by phone, video conferences. We also want to speak directly together as it is normal. We do the same with European countries and I am glad that this joint periodic work corresponds to the quality of our relations. Many things have become complicated. As the President of the Federal Republic of Germany said, it seems the world has gone off course. It is very important that closely cooperating friends and colleagues talk to each other all the time. There is nothing special, but it’s necessary to speak directly and I am happy.

* * *

As part of his working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the office of the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation, where he was welcomed by Norbert Lammert, the Foundation’s Chairman.

At the meeting with the representatives of the Foundation, the Prime Minister touched on the developments taking place in the South Caucasus, the democratic reforms being implemented in Armenia, the works being carried out in the framework of the fight against corruption and other topics.

In Berlin, the Prime Minister laid flowers at the khachkar (cross-stone) to the memory the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, where he had a meeting with representatives of political, social and expert circles, participated in the discussion “Security and Stability in the South Caucasus. Armenia’s Perspective”.

The Prime Minister first delivered a speech, where he particularly said,

“Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to have this opportunity to be here today and address this distinguished audience. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Mr. Ralf Nickel, vice President of the Council, and Director Mr. Guntram Wolff and his team for organizing this event.

Today we are living at a time when not only natural but also geopolitical tectonic shifts are taking place all around the world. Deepening geopolitical instability, growing tensions and unpredictability are weakening the world order and international security system, creating even bigger challenges, especially for a country like Armenia, with democracy in a complex region, making us more vulnerable in our complicated region.

Dear attendees,

We witnessed the first sprouts of today’s challenges and the collapse of the European security architecture in our region back in 2020 when Azerbaijan unleashed a war against Nagorno-Karabakh.

After the signing of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement, Azerbaijan not only didn’t abandon its bellicose policies and threats, but also carried out new aggression, this time against the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia in May 2021, November 2021 and September 2022.

During the last aggression – on September 13-14, 2022, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military attack targeting the military and civilian infrastructure of Armenia using heavy artillery, missile systems, and drones. As a result, the Armenian side had 225 victims, including 3 civilians. More than 150 square kilometers of the sovereign territories of Armenia were occupied.

Today, I wouldn’t like to go deep into the details of the aggressions of 2020, 2021, 2022, but it is impossible to ignore the evidences of multiple cases of torture, mutilation of captured or already dead Armenian servicemen (including servicewomen) and other atrocities by Azerbaijani military forces. The horrible videos of the Azeri militaries committing “ISIS-style” war crimes by executing Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) should be acknowledged and addressed by the international community. Another issue is the engagement of the mercenaries from Syria by Azerbaijan.

During the aggression of September 2022, when the external security system of Armenia didn’t work, we requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that was held on September 15, 2022. During the meeting, the UN Security Council member states noted that the use of force is totally unacceptable, explicitly named the aggressor – Azerbaijan, highlighted the importance of adherence to the norms of international humanitarian law, emphasizing also the fact that civilian infrastructure on the territory of Armenia was targeted.

An important step towards de-escalation of the situation was a quadrilateral meeting of President Macron, President Michel, President Aliyev and me, in Prague on October 6, 2022, where an agreement was reached on deploying short-term EU monitoring capacity along the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

When this mission’s mandate ended on December 19, 2022, at Armenia’s request the EU Council made a decision to deploy a new, fully-fledged civilian mission (EUMA) on the territory of the Republic of Armenia for a two-year period.

On behalf of the Government of Armenia, I would like to express our gratitude to the EU and its member states, particularly to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for its support to our request. The Mission was launched on 20th February, and I have already met the Head of the Mission, your compatriot with extensive experience in international deployments – Mr. Markus Ritter in Yerevan.

The Mission shall play a crucial role in ensuring security on the ground and stability in the region, as well as timely and reliable reporting on the current situation to our partners in the EU and its member states.

Dear colleagues,

Azerbaijan, in gross violation of the provisions of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, has being illegally blocked the Lachin corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia since December 12, 2022.

The blockade resulted in a humanitarian crisis. 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh had been cut off from natural gas, electricity, food, medical and other vital supplies.

Due to a severe shortage of food and other necessary goods authorities of Nagorno Karabakh had to take desperate measures, issued food coupons and are rationing certain foodstuffs. Population receives only erratic power supplies, from local electricity capacities. Universities, schools and kindergartens were shut down, due to which more than 30 thousand students and children were deprived of their right to education.

On December 20, 2022, upon the request of the Republic of Armenia, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was held on the situation caused by the blockade of the Lachin corridor.

The overwhelming majority of the UN Security Council members made clear demands to stop the blockade of the corridor by Azerbaijan and to ensure the access of international organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh. Dozens of countries and organizations issued a targeted condemnation of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor and urged Azerbaijan to end it. The Republic of Armenia has been putting efforts to send a UN, and OSCE fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and Lachin Corridor.

Also, the Republic of Armenia filed a request to the International Court of Justice of the United Nations under Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to apply provisional measures to unblock the Lachin Corridor. On 22 of February, early this year, the International Court of Justice issued its orders to Azerbaijan to take all measures at its disposal to ensure the unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

Unfortunately, up to now Azerbaijan failed to comply with the decision of the ICJ and the traffic through the Lachin corridor is still disrupted. Though the natural gas supply is restored, electricity supply to Nagorno-Karabakh, having been cut off since 9 January 2023, has not been restored yet. Food supplies are still carried out by coupons and people are deprived of critical medical care. Only Red cross and Russian peacekeepers are able to deliver limited amount of food and necessary lifesaving goods to Nagorno Karabakh, and transport people with healthcare emergency needs to Armenian hospitals.

Growing aggressiveness of Azerbaijan toward Nagorno-Karabakh makes clear the intensions of Azerbaijan – to carry out an ethnic cleansing of Armenians. Recently president Aliyev of Azerbaijan declared that Lachin corridor is open for those Armenians who want to leave Karabakh. That means – that Lachin corridor is closed for those Armenians who live in Nagorno Karabakh.

Dear participants,

Despite the above-mentioned, the Government of Armenia has shown the political will and has been taking decisive steps to open a new era of peace and stability in the South Caucasus and has been engaged constructively in the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation process is going on in the following three main tracks: Agreement on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, unblocking of transport communications and economic links in the region and border demarcation and security.

Armenia agreed to separate from the Armenia-Azerbaijan process the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, with the logic that a mechanism of discussions between Stepanakert and Baku will be formed. It is essential for Armenia to establish a guarantee mechanism addressing the issues of security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh which will have international visibility and involvement.

Without going into the details, I would like to mention that the key humanitarian issues, such as the return of all the Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), and the access of International organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh, continue to remain unresolved and are the issues of our utmost concern. We strongly condemn the continuous violations of the Geneva Convention on POWs by Azerbaijan as at least 33 Armenian POWs have been sentenced to different terms of imprisonment through completely trumped-up charges. The refusal of Azerbaijan to repatriate Armenian prisoners of war is another violation by Azerbaijan of point 8 of trilateral statement of 9th November of 2020.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Another aspect of our vision of regional peace is the normalization of relations with Türkiye. We are ready to fully normalize relations with Türkiye, establish diplomatic relations. We hope for full opening of our common border, which was unilaterally closed in the early 90ies by Türkiye.

We have some small but hopeful signs that we are moving forward. Special Representatives of our countries agreed upon establishing air cargo transportation and opening interstate borders for third-country citizens in July 2022.

In January a ban on direct air cargo transportation between Türkiye and Armenia has been lifted, and we hope for the speedy implementation of the opening of the border for third-country citizens.

Also, I met President Erdogan in Prague on the margins of the European Political Community summit in Prague 2022, where we discussed the prospects of normalization.

Armenia reacted rapidly after the recent devastating earthquake in Türkiye. I called up President Erdogan with condolences and proposed our support. After that we sent humanitarian aid and rescue team to the affected areas. It is very important to state that two convoys of humanitarian aid entered into Türkiye through the border bridge which had been closed for 30 years. Our rescue team returned to Armenia through that bridge as well.

Armenian Foreign Minister visited Türkiye, met his counterpart and reiterated our readiness and willingness to fully normalize relations. Though the last interactions were, of course, of purely humanitarian essence, we, however, would be glad to have the political outcomes.

Dear friends,

I would like to stress that the EU is one of our key partners on our democratic reforms path. In this context, it is worth to mention that Germany is a major political and economic partner for Armenia providing development aid and support for our domestic reforms.

Continuing the topic of cooperation with the EU, I would like to inform you of a new important format of the Armenia-EU partnership agenda – The Political and Security dialogue, the inaugural meeting of which took place in Yerevan last January. The discussion on a wide range of issues, including the overall regional situation and the prospects of deepening our collaboration in certain areas was not only timely but also considerably enriched our diverse partnership agenda with the EU.

In this context I would like to stress that the basis for our cooperation with EU is democracy. And according to the latest “Index of the General Assessment of Eastern Partnership Member States”, Armenia topped the “Democracy and Good Governance” rating table among the EaP member countries and is a leader in the following 5 areas: fight against corruption, an independent judiciary, opinion and freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, independent media and democratic rights, elections and political pluralism.

Despite all the challenges, we do believe that our security architecture cannot be comprehensive without respect for human rights, rule of law and democracy. Democracy is a strategy for us. We will keep up reforms aimed at strengthening rule of law, consolidating good governance and fighting against corruption, aiming to ensure prosperity for our people.

The 2018 democratic revolution, followed by 2018 and 2021 snap parliamentary elections proved that Armenia’s democratic development path is irreversible. In this regard, 2021 parliamentary elections were exceptional: it was first case when election in Armenia served as a tool for overcoming the political crisis. I mean internal political crisis that we had after the 44 days’ war of 2020. Usually elections sparked political crisis in our country and it was the case from 1994 to 2018.

But this page is closed after the democratic revolution of 2018, and Armenia now is an internationally recognized democratic country. However, recent security challenges raise serious question the following question – whether democracy can provide security.

Whether Armenian democracy is able to provide security – this is the question that rightfully worries the Armenian society today and an issue to be addressed by our government.

Thank you for attention.”

Then the Prime Minister answered the questions of the audience. Referring to the issue of unblocking regional infrastructures, Nikol Pashinyan said: “You know, it is very important to note that sometimes the same words can have different meanings in different regions. Thus, usually when we say corridor in Europe, we mean communication, transportation, etc. But in our case the reality is different. Why? This is due to the the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, because in that trilateral declaration we have only one mentioning of the corridor, and that is the Lachin Corridor, which, according to the trilateral declaration, should be and is beyond the control of Azerbaijan.

And this is with the consent of Azerbaijan, and the president of Azerbaijan signed the trilateral declaration. In the same statement, we have a point about communication, which is about regional communication, transport routes, etc. And there is no other point about the corridor through the territory of Armenia. There is a very important circumstance: when the president of Azerbaijan publicly said that the so-called point about the corridor you mentioned (Zangezur corridor-edited) does not exist, and Azerbaijan itself invented this term after signing the trilateral declaration. According to the statement, and it is with the consent of the president of Azerbaijan, the Lachin corridor is beyond the control of Azerbaijan.

On the other hand, we have accepted that bilaterally, not only Armenia, but also Azerbaijan, we should open all economic and communication routes. And there is no point according to which these routes should be outside the control of Armenia. We have repeatedly stated that this is a red line for us. On the other hand, we have announced, and there is no exaggeration here, that Armenia is ready to open all communications even tomorrow, even tonight. By the way, we had a trilateral meeting in Brussels December 14, 2021, where we reached a concrete agreement to repair the railway, which passes through the south of Armenia, can reach Turkey, Iran, Russia through Azerbaijan. We had reached an agreement, it had been published. There was a very important nuance there. According to this agreement, the railway should operate under the laws of the countries through which it passes.

Unfortunately, a week after that, Azerbaijan refused to sign what was already agreed upon in the presence of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. So what’s the nuance in? Saying “Zangezur Corridor” means supporting Azerbaijan’s territorial ambitions towards Armenia. And I want to ask you to take into account that the same word can have different meanings in different regions, in different political circumstances. This is my answer.”

Referring to the issue of democracy in Armenia, the Prime Minister said. “I want to emphasize that there is no internal threat to democracy in Armenia. I think that the 2021 elections proved it. But, on the other hand, we have external threats to our democracy. Azerbaijan’s continuous escalations, aggressive rhetoric, and hate speech are a great threat to Armenian democracy. By the way, I want to mention a very important fact. After the war in 2020, Azerbaijan invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia for the first time on May 12, 2021. And this happened just two days after I resigned from the post of Prime Minister, and snap elections were coming up. It is a constitutional process. if a new prime minister is not elected after the resignation of the prime minister, it means that snap parliamentary elections must take place. And when we announced that we were going to hold extraordinary parliamentary elections, two days later Azerbaijan invaded Armenian territories.

It was an attempt to influence the results of the elections, to destroy all the democratic achievements of the Republic of Armenia, to create the opposite situation, to prevent the elections from taking place, to decrease the legitimacy of the Armenian government. But even under these circumstances, we remained committed to democracy. And we managed to hold free and democratic elections, and this is not our assessment, this is the assessment of the international community and international observers.”

Referring to the question about the situation in the region, Prime Minister Pashinyan said. “You know, the situation in our region is becoming more and more complicated, because due to the events and developments in Ukraine, all international attention is focused on Ukraine. For this reason, during the crisis in Ukraine, a very dangerous crisis is unfolding in our country, which concerns Nagorno Karabakh and the territorial integrity of Armenia. First, in May, 2021 Azerbaijan invaded the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, in the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers, and after that we had a big crisis in September, 2022, when Azerbaijan started a large-scale military aggression against Armenia. There are many factors for these developments, but the most important factor is that all the attention of the international community was or is focused on Ukraine. And it creates even greater opportunities for instability in our region.”

Speaking about the Russians who arrived in Armenia, the Prime Minister noted that many people, particularly from the IT sector, relocated to Armenia. “I think it happened because of certain technical issues, because usually they are paid by Western organizations, and after the sanctions, they probably couldn’t get a salary and decided to move to Armenia. Maybe they loved our country. And, frankly, we are happy for their presence, because it creates additional economic activity in our country. By the way, we recorded 12.5% economic growth in 2022. Not completely, but partly, this is due to the activity of Russian emigrants. I would also like to say something that is not directly related to the issue, but is related to our regional situation, because representatives of Azerbaijan often say that Armenia is a mono-ethnic country, and they present it as a very negative fact. I want to note that we have mandates for national minorities in our parliament, and this is mandatory. According to our Constitution, national minorities have a mandate in our parliament. And now we have Russian, Assyrian, Kurdish, Yezidi representatives. By the way, Yezidis are the largest national minority in our country, and now we have, I think, four guaranteed, mandatory mandates for national minorities, and if I’m not mistaken, there are no mandates for national minorities in the Azerbaijani parliament.

Referring to relations with Turkey, Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia never had any preconditions for establishing relations with Turkey. “And now I can say the same: we don’t have any preconditions. We just think that we are neighbors and should have relations. And to be honest, I’m not even sure if it’s right to talk about it now or not, but I think that now the main obstacle to establishing relations between Armenia and Turkey is Azerbaijan’s position, because Azerbaijan constantly urges Turkey not to establish relations with Armenia. Maybe I shouldn’t have said this, but I want you to know the very important nuances of the process. We are ready even today, without any exaggeration, to open the border. By the way, we did not close the border, it was closed by Turkey. But now we have taken a very important step. As I said, our humanitarian aid reached Turkey through the border. Of course, our reaction and position was entirely based on a humanitarian approach. But if the decision to send humanitarian aid to Turkey also has certain political consequences, we will be happy about it,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized.

Referring to the question of the representative of Azerbaijan regarding the Lachin Corridor, the Prime Minister noted. “Let me first address the question of the representative of the Azerbaijani consul. Let me note that the International Court of Justice recently, on February 20, rejected Azerbaijan’s claim against Armenia in a parallel lawsuit regarding alleged mining by Armenia. The International Court of Justice rejected Azerbaijan’s claims that Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh use the Lachin Corridor for military purposes. So, I think I don’t need to respond, because the International Court of Justice has already responded. As for the issue of mutual recognition of territorial integrity, it has already been agreed upon. According to the results of the quadrilateral meeting in Prague, there is a point according to which Azerbaijan and Armenia recognize each other’s territorial integrity and agreed that the delimitation process should be based on the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991, which is about the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. And that declaration says that administrative divisions between former Soviet republics become state borders. And according to the Prague agreement, the delimitation process should be based on this principle. But if I’m not mistaken, 10 days after that, president Aliyev of Azerbaijan announced that the delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be based on historical maps. What does it mean historical maps, when we have already reached an agreement? We have already agreed that we recognize each other’s territorial integrity based on that declaration. Moreover, recently the president of Azerbaijan introduced a new initiative called “Western Azerbaijan”. Do you know what that means? It means that Armenia does not have a sovereign territory, the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia is the so-called “Western Azerbaijan”, saying in parallel that we want peace, etc., etc. This is a very weird situation. This is the main problem of our relationship. We reached an agreement with the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, we signed it. The President of Azerbaijan, the President of Russia and I signed that document. We have reached an agreement. It was a very difficult decision for me, for Armenia. There is a point, according to which all prisoners of war and detained persons should be repatriated, but so far we have 33 prisoners of war, we have a civilian who is a prisoner. He was a representative of a charity organization, who was caught by the Azerbaijanis in the Lachin Corridor, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Do you know for what? Three days before that, he went live on Facebook and said something that the president of Azerbaijan did not like. And now, according to the decision of the Azerbaijani court, he is a “spy, terrorist, murderer”.

Answering the question of another Azerbaijani representative, Nikol Pashinyan noted that in 2018, when he became the Prime Minister of Armenia, he addressed social media users in Armenia and Azerbaijan during one of the press conferences, asking them not to use that platform for hate speech, aggressive, offensive rhetoric, but try to talk to each other and understand each other’s position. “But, unfortunately, my initiative failed. But I completely agree with you. We must focus on a positive future, on the future of our common region. Because it is a fact that the three states of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan – have very strong cultural similarities. That is a fact. And we should focus on the positive aspects. And you are right, we are interested, maybe Armenia is even more interested in the opening of regional communications, and that is the reason why Azerbaijan is trying, so to speak, to sell it at the highest possible price. We should focus on positive opportunities for peace and cooperation. The peace agenda is my responsibility, and I would like to receive some support from the Azerbaijani public as well. At the end of our meeting, I will try to focus on positive aspects. My expectation from the international community is to make it clear that any provocation will receive a very harsh response from the international community, and it is very important to maintain stability. I emphasize that it does not matter from the side of Armenia or Azerbaijan, because now we have observers in the region, and now there will be no need for the EU to ask which side was the initiator. Now you have your own source of information. In general, I would like to say that our political team, the parliamentary majority has taken responsibility for the peace agenda, and now we have a mandate for the peace agenda. We are focused on the implementation of that mandate. And we need the support of the international community, the nations of our region, and we are ready to bear that responsibility until we reach a final and lasting peace. And recently I announced in our parliament and government that I have full determination to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, but it should not be a document reminding a capitulation for Armenia. It should be a real and lasting peace document for our region, and I am ready to bear that responsibility for the sake of peace, stability, regional and international cooperation. This is my final conclusion of our discussion today. Thank you,” Prime Minister Pashinyan concluded.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a working breakfast with the members of the Germany-South Caucasus friendship group of the Bundestag, headed by the group’s chairman Johann David Wadephul.

The Prime Minister emphasized the continuous development of cooperation between Armenian and German parliamentarians, including on international platforms. Nikol Pashinyan noted that cooperation with Germany in various directions, including political and economic cooperation, is of key importance for the Armenian Government.

Johann David Wadephul informed that in the near future they plan to visit the region and emphasized the importance of strengthening inter-parliamentary relations with Armenia.

Both bilateral relations and developments in the South Caucasus, as well as the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, were discussed at the meeting. Continuous and consistent attention and reaction of the international community was emphasized for overcoming the crisis in Nagorno Karabakh. The necessity of Azerbaijan’s immediate implementation of the decision of the UN International Court of Justice was emphasized.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan visited the residence of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, where they met with the President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender. After the welcoming ceremony, Prime Minister Pashinyan and Mrs. Hakobyan made a note in the book of honored guests, then the Prime Minister had a private conversation with the President of Germany, and Mrs. Hakobyan with Elke Büdenbender.

The meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister and the German President continued in an extended format.

Nikol Pashinyan and Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed a number of issues related to Armenian-German cooperation. Reference was made to the development of cooperation in the political and economic spheres. In that context, the active cooperation of the governments of the two countries was highlighted.

The President of Germany expressed readiness to contribute to the strengthening of bilateral ties and emphasized the importance of democratic reforms in Armenia.

Nikol Pashinyan presented details about the process of institutional reforms and noted that democracy is of strategic importance for the Armenian Government.

The interlocutors touched upon the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and other issues of mutual interest.

Mrs. Anna Hakobyan and Elke Büdenbender highlighted the vigorous activities of the ladies of the heads of state in different directions.

The lady of the German President emphasized the development of the field of dual education and the programs implemented in that direction, presenting details about the steps carried out in Germany.

The Prime Minister’s wife noted that the “My step” foundation also implements programs in the field of dual education.

The important role of women in establishing and strengthening peace was emphasized. In this context, Mrs. Hakobyan invited Elke Büdenbender to the international summit on “The Role of Women in Promoting Democracy, Peace and Security” to be held in Yerevan this year.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany continues. Today, the Prime Minister was hosted in the Bundestag and had a meeting with the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee headed by Chairman Michael Roth. The latter welcomed the Prime Minister and noted that the visit is a good opportunity to discuss both the Armenian-German inter-parliamentary cooperation and the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region.

Prime Minister Pashinyan made a speech, in which he specifically stated:

“Mr. Chairman,
Dear Colleagues,

I am very happy to be here and to see you, because I think there are many issues that we would like to discuss today. I hope today we will have an open and constructive discussion.

You emphasized that there is a new factor in our relations with the EU, and that factor is the monitoring mission of the EU along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. First of all, I would like to thank the EU for taking this decision. That decision was the outcome of the quadrilateral meeting in Prague when the short-term mission arrived. After that, we applied for a long-term mission and we are grateful to the EU for making that decision.

In general, the situation remains tense, first of all due to the continuous blocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, despite the decision of the International Court of Justice, Azerbaijan has not opened the Lachin Corridor yet. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the decision of the ICJ has a legally binding force. I think this is a situation that should be discussed at the international level, because it is unacceptable to leave the decision of the International Court of Justice without a reaction, in particular, when the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh continues, and an international reaction is needed.

By the way, what is very important in this context? it has been more than 80 days that the Lachin Corridor has been closed, and during this time Azerbaijan insisted that the Lachin Corridor is not closed, it is open. The decision of the International Court of Justice is very important in terms of clarifying this issue, because the court stated that the Lachine Corridor is closed and should be opened.

During my visit, I heard some opinions that support the idea of sending an international monitoring or fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachine Corridor to observe the humanitarian situation and see what is happening there, because it is a crisis that could have irreversible consequences, it can grow into a humanitarian disaster. I think we should work together to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
But the most important question is why Azerbaijan is doing this. We are sure that Azerbaijan’s goal is to carry out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and cleans Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. I think the latest statement of Azerbaijani president Aliyev proves this, because Aliyev said that the Lachin Corridor is open for Armenians who want to leave Karabakh, which I think automatically means that the Lachin Corridor is closed for Armenians who live in Nagorno Karabakh and who want to live there. This is the core cause of Azerbaijan’s actions.

There are concerns that this is just the beginning of escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh, perhaps along the Armenia-Azerbaijani border as well, because Azerbaijan continues to express aggressive thoughts, aggressive rhetoric. You know that last September, Azerbaijan initiated a large-scale aggression against Armenia, occupying the sovereign territories of Armenia. But, on the other hand, we reached an agreement in Prague, according to which Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, based on the Alma Ata Declaration of 1991, which means that the administrative borders of the Soviet states turn into state borders. Alma Ata’s declaration was about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. 13 former Soviet states agreed that administrative borders become state borders.

By the way, we also reached an agreement in Prague that the border delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be based on the same declaration of Alma Ata. The surprise was that after that the president of Azerbaijan announced that the delimitation should be based on historical maps. You know, it’s very difficult to explain what that means. Maybe the new initiative of the president of Azerbaijan can clarify this situation, because recently we witnessed the presentation of the so-called “Western Azerbaijan” initiative, and the whole idea of this initiative is that the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia belongs to Azerbaijan, and the capital of Armenia is an Azerbaijani city.

Our assessment is that all this, the blocking of the Lachin Corridor, the so-called “Western Azerbaijan” initiative, is a preparation for a large-scale aggression against Armenia.

By the way, I would like to draw your attention to another very important situation. We had a discussion at the German Council on Foreign Relations yesterday, and some of our colleagues there used the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” term. I asked our colleagues to be careful because sometimes the same word can have different meanings in different regions and in different political and geopolitical circumstances. Usually in Europe, saying corridor, people mean routes that provide transport services with better quality, etc. But our situation is that we have a legally agreed point on the word corridor in our trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, which put an end to the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

So we only have one point about corridor there and that is the Lachin corridor which is currently blocked. The Lachin Corridor was established for providing connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Lachin Corridor is not just a road, it is a security zone with a width of 5 km, and according to the relevant point of the statement, Lachin Corridor should be outside the control of Azerbaijan and should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers.

In the same declaration, we have point 9, which is about the opening of all transport and economic routes in our region. And yes, there is a point that Armenia should provide a connection between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan, but there is no point that those routes should be outside of Armenia’s control. That route should operate in the context of the opening of roads and railways in our region. I must mention that Armenia is ready to open all communications even today. But every time we try to do this, Azerbaijan says that these routes should not be under the control and legislation of Armenia, which is totally unacceptable to us. Recently, the president of Azerbaijan publicly admitted that there is no point in the trilateral declaration about the so-called “Zangezur Corridor”, and it was he who incorporated such that term into the context of regional communications.

The problem is how one can unilaterally incorporate something into the trilateral declaration? This is a total absurd. Thus, I would like that phrase not to be used, because it would mean support for Azerbaijan’s territorial ambitions against Armenia. But, on the other hand, I once again confirm that we are ready to open. Moreover, for more than six months now, we have a draft government decision on opening three checkpoints on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, but every time we try to adopt this decision, the Azerbaijani side makes a lot of noise, saying why they want to open a checkpoint near our borders without adjusting with us.

This is the overall situation, but I think we should focus on the peace agenda. As you know, our government has taken responsibility for the peace agenda, I am personally committed to the peace agenda and democracy, because I believe that democracy and peace go together, and because democracy is a strategy for us, we are interested in peace so that we can ensure the continuous development of democracy, economy and freedom. This was the general assessment of the situation. I will gladly answer your questions.”

Next, Prime Minister Pashinyan answered a number of questions of the members of the Bundestag.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as part of his working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, had a meeting with representatives of the German Eastern Business Association and leading German companies. The meeting took place at SAP Data Space Berlin, a well-known company in the field of business management and information technologies, also operating in Armenia. Representatives of German state bodies, as well as private organizations engaged in agribusiness, digital technologies, pharmaceuticals, energy, aviation and other sectors took part in the discussion.

Welcoming the attendees, the Armenian Prime Minister emphasized the importance of the meeting in this format from the point of view of developing and deepening the Armenian-German trade and economic cooperation. Nikol Pashinyan referred to the economic situation of Armenia, talking about the current trends and indicators. The Prime Minister noted that 12.5% economic growth was recorded in 2022, since 2018 156,000 new jobs have been created, state revenues have increased by $1.8 billion. In the international index of economic freedom, Armenia ranks 11th, after the Velvet Revolution, the monopoly was abolished in Armenia, now reforms are being implemented in the economic sphere, in particular, in the areas of modernization of agriculture, introduction of modern technologies, improvement of infrastructure, energy, high technologies and a number of other directions. Armenia’s economic growth rate last year was one of the best in the Eurasian region, and at least 7% economic growth is predicted for this year, although the existing potential creates opportunities for higher growth. According to the Prime Minister, Armenia’s rating by international authoritative rating agencies has moved from stable to positive, which also indicates the improvement of the economic environment.

Nikol Pashinyan presented Armenian government’s measures towards improving tax and customs administration and business environment. The Prime Minister noted that the Armenian government is interested in expanding the involvement of German and European companies in Armenia, adding that large-scale projects in road construction, infrastructure improvement and a number of other directions are being implemented in the country with great potential and opportunities for cooperation.

Next, the Prime Minister answered the questions of the representatives of the companies regarding the implementation of investment programs in energy, agriculture, industry, finance, infrastructure and other sectors.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ended his working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany with a meeting with representatives of the local Armenian community.

At the beginning of his speech, the Prime Minister, summing up the visit to Germany, noted that he considers it productive. “We had an open conversation with the Chancellor and President of the Federal Republic of Germany. The main purpose of the visit was to try to better understand the view and perception of our German partners towards the Republic of Armenia, to try to make our positions on a number of issues more understandable and comprehensible.

In general, I can say that I will return with very warm impressions. The meetings took place in a friendly atmosphere, including the meeting held in the Bundestag, the meeting with the German-South Caucasus Friendship Group of the Bundestag. Also, a little while ago we held a warm meeting with the representatives of the business community, and yesterday there was a good public meeting at the German Council on Foreign Relations.

In general, I don’t want to draw premature conclusions, but one thing is clear that when we look at the events that happened after the blockade of Lachin Corridor, the resolutions of the European Council, as well as the statements of our partners in the international community, there is a certain change in perception of our views, our positions, our problems. Also, the perception of our country in the European Union has changed significantly.

I cannot say that we have guaranteed the security of our country today, especially in these conditions, when geopolitical earthquakes and solutions are taking place. Under these conditions, we are in a very dangerous environment.

But on the other hand, we also have an idea of what needs to be done in terms of managing this security environment. The peace agenda is very important for us. We understand that it is not an easy task for us. We understand that there are many risks, we understand that peace does not depend only on us, on our desire. Others must also want it, others also want it, but the peace wanted by others does not coincide with the peace wanted by us, and the whole purpose and meaning of the diplomatic process should be for this to happen.

In general, I must say that we are in a very difficult and dangerous period. We need maximum seriousness and flexibility in order to overcome the existing challenges.

We do not have deep economic problems, we do not have problems in terms of internal security and democracy. The people have and will continue to have the right and opportunity to make decisions by their choice and vote. Our problems are external, our problems are related to the external environment and security, and it is these concerns that we first of all share on international platforms.

In this sense, we do not have good news, but in a bad environment, the good news is that some international attention is focused on Armenia and the region, and we should be able to use that attention to achieve lasting solutions and peace in the region,” the Prime Minister said.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister answered a number of questions of the attendees, which were related to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the processes taking place in the region, and other topics.

Prime Minister Pashinyan’s two-day working visit to Germany is completed.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Munich on a working visit, had an informal meeting with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

The interlocutors referred to issues related to regional security and stability, as well as Armenia-EU cooperation.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the opening ceremony of the Munich Security Conference.

Presidents, heads of governments and foreign ministers of several dozen countries are participating in the Munich Security Conference. In particular, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, US Vice President Kamala Harris, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid and others attended the conference.

Within the framework of the conference, a number of bilateral meetings of Prime Minister Pashinyan are shceduled.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The interlocutors attached importance the development of Armenian-Iraqi relations in various directions, including political and economic. In that regard, the parties emphasized the need to deepen trade and economic ties between the two countries, expand and strengthen cooperation of businessmen.

An agreement was reached to organize a meeting of the Armenian-Iraqi intergovernmental commission in the near future, during which further steps and joint programs will be outlined.

The sides also highlighted mutually beneficial cooperation on international platforms.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol.

Issues related to the further development of cooperation in the fight against crime were discussed.

The Prime Minister referred to the reforms and programs implemented in Armenia’s police system, expressing hope that cooperation will also develop in this direction.

Catherine De Bolle assessed the cooperation with Armenian law enforcement bodies as effective and emphasized Europol’s readiness to continue close cooperation with Armenian partners.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister Pashinyan had a short meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The interlocutors exchanged ideas on regional security and stability issues.

* * *

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Iraqi Kurdistan Nechirvan Barzani met in the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The interlocutors emphasized the continuous development of trade and economic cooperation and noted that the volume of bilateral trade is growing year by year. In that context, the expansion and deepening of business ties was emphasized.

The sides also exchanged thoughts on other topics of regional importance.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of close cooperation between the Armenian Government and ICRC. Nikol Pashinyan noted that the ICRC is the only international organization operating in Nagorno-Karabakh, which, especially given Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, significantly contributes to alleviating and solving various problems arising from the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh by providing humanitarian support. According to the Prime Minister, the ICRC has key importance in the South Caucasus region.

The President of the ICRC stated that they will continue to contribute to the solution of the humanitarian problems of the NK population according to their mandate. Mrs. Spoljaric also mentioned the fact of effective cooperation with the Armenian government.

The Prime Minister thanked the ICRC for providing communication between the Armenian captives illegally held in Azerbaijan until now and their families.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The interlocutors discussed various issues related to Armenia-European Union cooperation.

Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the EU is the main partner of Armenia in the implementation of institutional reforms and thanked for the assistance provided in that direction.

Ursula Von der Leyen highly appreciated the process of democratic reforms in Armenia and expressed the readiness of the EU to continue support programs for our country.

The parties exchanged ideas on the projects to be implemented in Armenia within the framework of the Economic and Investment Plan of the EU’s Eastern Partnership.

Reference was made to the situation in the South Caucasus region.

* * *

The meeting of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid took place in Munich.

Prime Minister Pashinyan referred to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s illegal closure of the Lachin Corridor and emphasized the need for continuous and consistent steps by the international community to solve the problem.

The parties referred to the activities of the civilian mission of the European Union in Armenia and expressed hope that it will contribute to the strengthening of peace and stability.

The sides exchanged thoughts on the processes taking place in the region and other issues of mutual interest.

* * *

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković in the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Nikol Pashinyan noted that the first visit of the Croatian Foreign Minister to Armenia took place recently, which has historical significance in bilateral relations. The Prime Minister expressed hope that today’s meeting will give a new impetus to the further development and strengthening of Armenian-Croatian relations.

The Prime Minister of Croatia noted that the government headed by him is also interested in expanding cooperation with Armenia in various fields.

Next, the interlocutors referred to the situation in the South Caucasus, the developments taking place around Nagorno Karabakh.

Prime Minister Pashinyan noted that as a result of Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, a humanitarian crisis has arisen in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan has also blocked electricity supply for more than a month, and there are serious problems with gas supply. According to Nikol Pashinyan, all this causes not only a humanitarian but also an environmental crisis. The Prime Minister emphasized the international community’s addressed and consistent response to the issue.

The parties also referred to the activities of the EU’s civilian mission in Armenia and emphasized the importance of strengthening stability and peace in the region.

Prime Minister Pashinyan invited his Croatian counterpart to Armenia on an official visit. The invitation was graciously accepted.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continues to hold bilateral meetings with foreign partners within the framework of the Munich Security Conference.

On February 18, Nikol Pashinyan first met with the President of Latvia Egils Levits.

The interlocutors discussed Armenian-Latvian relations, as well as various issues of bilateral interest.

Prime Minister Pashinyan referred to the institutional reforms being carried out in Armenia and highlighted the importance of the European Union’s continuous support for their effective implementation. The Prime Minister noted that the development and strengthening of democracy is of strategic importance for the Armenian Government.

Nikol Pashinyan and Egils Levits also exchanged thoughts on the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

The sides highlighted the activity of the civilan mission of the European Union in our country. The parties expressed hope that it will contribute to stability and peace.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer in Munich.

The Prime Minister emphasized the cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the EIB and the joint investment programs implemented in various fields. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the projects being implemented in cooperation with the EIB are of great importance for the business circles and citizens of our country, since the projects are aimed at financing the private sector and improving various infrastructure nodes. The Prime Minister also noted that the Armenian government is interested in discussing the opportunities for implementing new programs with the EIB.

Werner Hoyer assessed the cooperation with the Armenian government as effective and noted that the EIB is ready to discuss the possibilities of implementing new projects in different directions with Armenian partners.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Munich.

The interlocutors discussed the developments taking place in the South Caucasus region and emphasized the implementation of consistent steps in the direction of strengthening stability and peace.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, a trilateral meeting between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev took place.

At the meeting, reference was made to the progress of work on the draft peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the unblocking of regional transport infrastructure and the implementation of delimitation between the two countries in line with the agreement reached in Prague.

Prime Minister Pashinyan reaffirmed the determination of the Armenian side to achieve a treaty that will truly guarantee long-term peace and stability in the region.

At the same time, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the fact of Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor and the resulting humanitarian, environmental and energy crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ensuring the continuity of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan was emphasized.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took part in the panel discussion on South Caucasus issues in the sidelines of the Munich Conference headlined “Moving Mountains? Building Security in the South Caucasus.” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid also took part in the discussion.

Below are the questions addressed to Prime Minister Pashinyan by the moderator of the discussion and the Prime Ministers answers.

Question – Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to ask you to comment on the consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine on your country.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Thank you. I would like to thank you for organizing this format. I agree, maybe this is a historical meeting, but it is important to understand the context of the history that is being created at this moment, because we can have different results or consequences, and I think we should be result-oriented. This is our approach.

As for your question, global instability cannot have a positive impact on our regional situation, because you know that for a long time now, all international attention is understandably focused on Ukraine, and this creates new risks for our region. It is very important that our region also receives international attention, because I think there are many risks.

What is our approach? We remain committed to our democratic reform agenda because we believe that democratic reforms, the development of democratic institutions, the rule of law, human rights, and an independent judiciary will improve the situation around our region. We believe that this is beneficial for the entire region, and very important for us in terms of doing our part.

Question – Mr. Pashinyan, you are now also helping Turkey with this terrible earthquake. Do you think there are prospects for improving relations between Armenia and Turkey? Is it possible that this terrible disaster can be a reason for a change in your relationship?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Thank you. You know, we had only humanitarian motives behind the decision to send humanitarian aid and rescuers to Turkey, because millions of people in our neighborhood were suffering, but during this time we witnessed a very positive reaction from the Turkish government, and if this move has political consequences, it will be even better. But our initial motive was purely humanitarian, and as we stated, we are ready to provide as much humanitarian aid as our capabilities allow, and we are ready to do it.

As for the political dialogue, to be honest, before the earthquake, we had already established a political dialogue through special representatives, and I think that dialogue is very important. I mean in terms of creating an appropriate atmosphere in which these decisions were made. And we believe that the possibilities of making political decisions in the context of this humanitarian dialogue will be even higher. We are ready to move forward and we believe that the establishment of diplomatic relations with Turkey and the opening of our border will have a very positive effect not only in terms of our regional situation, but also in terms of the international situation.

Question – Now I want to return to the question that President Aliyev alluded to at the beginning. We are talking about a war that started two years ago, and now we see a situation that still remains critical. We are not conducting negotiations here, but the international community is concerned about the humanitarian situation, and we, like everyone else, follow the humanitarian situation in Turkey, in the same way we follow the existing problem there. From the outside, we see that the Lacin Corridor is blocked. Mr. Prime Minister, I would like you to talk a little about confidence building efforts. Of course, we would like to see a decrease in tension through small steps that will bring us closer to the settlement of this conflict.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Thank you. You are right. Lachin Corridor has been blocked for already 70 days. Unfortunately, there is now a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as an energy crisis, because the electricity supply to Nagorno-Karabakh is suspended, the gas supply is also suspended, and we have counted that the gas supply has been suspended at least 10 times in the last 70 days, and this is a problem that deserves attention. Our position is as follows. In the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, we have very specific points regarding the Lachin Corridor, and according to that statement, it is the duty of Azerbaijan and the Russian peacekeepers to keep the Lachin Corridor open, but now, unfortunately, we have a completely different situation. We believe that international attention should be focused on this situation, because we are afraid that the continuation of this situation may cause irreversible humanitarian consequences for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Question – As I said, we are not conducting negotiations here, but I would like to give Prime Minister Pashinyan an opportunity to respond to President Aliyev.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – Thank you. As for Nagorno Karabakh, the president mentioned the trilateral declaration, and Nagorno Karabakh is present in that declaration, and the signature of the President of Azerbaijan is present under this document.

And we have the Lachin Corridor, which was supposed to operate freely. By the way, according to that trilateral declaration, the Lachin Corridor was supposed to be outside the control of Azerbaijan, and this was according to the signature of the President of Azerbaijan. Recently, a group of Armenian children from Nagorno-Karabakh tried to travel through the Lachin Corridor and were stopped. Some masked Azerbaijanis broke into the bus, and the children were screaming. This was the last attempt of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to move freely through the Lachin Corridor.

President Aliyev also talked about the destroyed mosques. I would like to note that in 2017, several mosques were demolished in Azerbaijan to build new roads. By the way, during the Soviet years, 1560 mosques were destroyed in Azerbaijan, and this was a common thing for the Soviet Union. Churches and mosques were also destroyed in Armenia. You know, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh should not pay the debt of the Soviet years. It is a very dangerous narrative, because I am afraid, it seems that Azerbaijan is trying to give a religious context to this whole situation. It is very dangerous. There is no religious context in this conflict.

And by the way, we have a Muslim minority in our country, and we have a functioning mosque, this is the reality. Do you know what causes concern in Azerbaijan’s narrative? Its rhetoric creates the impression, and perhaps it is so, that Azerbaijan has adopted a policy of revenge. It is possible that this is Azerbaijan’s policy. But as mentioned, we have a very complicated history, and I just said, yes, maybe this is a historic meeting, but for what purpose do we want to use it? To stir up intolerance, hatred, aggressive rhetoric in our region, or the contrary, to use this platform to improve the situation?

We believe that this platform should be used for constructive purposes. Of course, we can now tell many stories about enmity, but what is the role of leaders: to deepen that enmity or to use our opportunities, our mandates? I am proud that I, our Government, even after the catastrophic war, was able to hold free, democratic elections in our country, which were recognized by the whole world as free and democratic, transparent and competitive. And as I said, from our point of view, the solution is democracy, the solution is transparency, the solution is dialogue, the solution is respect for all countries. And we are ready to work in that direction. Thank you.

Question – Mr. Prime Minister, you have mentioned several times that the CSTO is not very effective at the moment, and the question is raised that Armenia can leave it. I would like you to comment on the issue

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – You know, we had certain concerns regarding CSTO, and these concerns have been public. We have raised these issues with our colleagues, we have actually made them public, and the concerns are still present. We are working towards finding solutions to those questions and concerns.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The interlocutors discussed the developments taking place in the South Caucasus region, the situation around Nagorno Karabakh.

The Prime Minister referred to the difficult humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan. The consistent attention and targeted response of the international community in this direction was emphasized.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The Prime Minister noted that the EBRD programs are of great importance for the reforms initiated by the Armenian government in terms of improving the business environment, promoting the competitiveness of the private sector, developing capital markets, urban lighting and other directions. The Head of the Executive expressed hope that in the future the volume of investments carried out by the EBRD will increase and will involve the most diverse sectors of the economy. Nikol Pashinyan attached importance to the EBRD programs in the direction of small and medium businesses in our country and added that the goal of the Armenian government is to give new momentum to the development and activation of the business sector.

Odile Renaud-Basso emphasized that the EBRD is ready to continue and expand its assistance to the Armenian government in the programs planned in various fields.

Prime Minister Pashinyan also had a meeting with Michael Harms, Executive Director of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations in Berlin. Issues related to bilateral economic cooperation and expansion of business ties were discussed.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Prime Ministers of Armenia and Lithuania, Nikol Pashinyan and Ingrida Šimonytė, met on February 19.

The interlocutors touched on issues related to the development of cooperation between Armenia and Lithuania in various fields. The sides exchanged thoughts on Armenia-EU relations.

Prime Minister Pashinyan referred to the developments taking place in the South Caucasus, the situation around Nagorno Karabakh, the humanitarian, environmental and energy crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s blocking of the Lachin Corridor. In this context, the consistent and continuous reaction of the international community to the aggressive actions of Azerbaijan was highlighted.

* * *

In the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the Chairman of the International Crisis Group Comfort Ero.

Reference was made to the processes taking place in the South Caucasus, the situation around Nagorno Karabakh, the humanitarian, environmental and energy crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor.

The development and continuity of cooperation with the International Crisis Group was highlighted.

Prime Minister Pashinyan’s working visit to Munich has ended.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, together with his wife Anna Hakobyan, arrived in the Republic of Tunisia on a working visit to participate in the 18th Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).

The official welcoming ceremony was held at the international airport of Djerba city. The Prime Minister and Mrs. Hakobyan were welcomed by Tunisian Defense Minister Imed Memmich.

During the 18th Summit of the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) held on November 19-20, Armenia will transfer the presidency of the OIF Summit to Tunisia. Prime Minister Pashinyan will make a speech at the summit.

As part of the visit, the Prime Minister will also have bilateral meetings with the leaders of different countries.

A Francophonie town will operate in Djerba. The participating countries, OIF partners and agencies will have the opportunity to showcase the cultural diversity of their countries. exhibition-sale of handicrafts, presentation of tourist opportunities, works of art and culture, as well as national cuisine of the participating states.

On this platform, the Republic of Armenia will be presented with a pavilion entitled “Culture and Technology”, the core of which is the rich Armenian carpet-making culture.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is participating in the 18th summit of the International Organization of Francophonie in Djerba, Republic of Tunisia. Armenia chaired the organization during the last four years.

At the beginning of the event, President of Tunisia Kais Saied and Secretary General of the International Organization of Francophonie Louise Mushikiwabo welcomed the leaders of the countries, including Prime Minister Pashinyan. French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and leaders of dozens of other member states of the organization are participating in the summit.

Afterwards, a video recording ceremony of the participants of the summit took place, immediately after which the summit started.

In his speech, Prime Minister Pashinyan said:

“Your Excellency, Honorable President Kais Saied, Dear colleagues, Heads of State and Government, Heads of delegations, Madam Secretary General of Francophonie,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to express my satisfaction for being here in Djerba, Tunisia in such an intimate and valued francophone environment.

I thank President Saied and the people of Tunisia for organizing such an important meeting and for showing warm hospitality.

By holding this Francophonie summit for the first time in Tunisia, we pay our respects to one of the founding fathers of Francophonie, President Habib Bourguiba.

Your Excellencies, dear colleagues,
Madam Secretary General of Francophonie,

Four years have passed since the last Francophonie summit held in Yerevan, an exceptionally long period of the current presidency, which, however, the Republic of Armenia has fulfilled with honor, unconditionally implementing all the commitments undertaken.

I would like to thank the General Secretary of La Francophonie, dear Louise Mushikiwabo, for managing our organization so effectively during this process, as well as for the quality relationships that have been established. I am glad that we were able to work together in complete harmony.

I would also like to welcome her efforts to shape a new image of La Francophonie and make the OIF a firmly future-oriented organization with ambitions commensurate with the challenges facing the world.

The world was subjected to major upheavals in recent years. The horrible Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, the resumption of wars and their consequences on global food and energy supplies have left their deep mark on the formation of a new international environment.

At the same time, the listed challenges have come to reveal the exactness and relevance of the approaches and values that underpin our responses.

In the face of pandemics and urgent climate challenges, we must continue to promote enhanced cooperation between countries, emphasizing the principle of solidarity. The latter should assume that the proposed programs and initiatives can be beneficial to the most vulnerable countries, as well as the population in vulnerable situations.

Faced with the activation of hate speech and intolerance, today we are once again convinced of the relevance of the slogan of the Yerevan Summit “Live Together” and the need to promote respect for human rights, equality and cultural diversity.

Finally, facing the multiplication of crises and conflicts, we welcome the Francophonie’s commitment to multilateralism, which guarantees the existence of an international system based on law and respect for the sovereignty of states.

In the recent period, unfortunately, we have to record that the fundamental principles of the UN Charter have been violated, in particular, the principle of not using force against the territorial integrity of any country, on which the collective security of all of us is based, thus gradually imposing the Law of the Strongest.

The aggression carried out by Azerbaijan, to which the Republic of Armenia fell victim on September 13-14, is a vivid manifestation of this reality.

Azerbaijan’s totally unjustified and unprovoked aggression led to the occupation of a part of Armenia’s territories, causing death and suffering to the civilian population and causing considerable destruction.

The established ceasefire, however, has not yet put an end to this country’s ambitions for other territories of Armenia.

Faced with new threats, we expect the international community to make a fair assessment of the situation our country has appeared in today, condemning the occupation of some parts of the Armenian territory and demanding the return of Azerbaijani forces to their initial positions.

Armenia, for its part, is firmly committed to contributing to the process of achieving a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, as well as ensuring the rights and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Your Excellencies, dear colleagues,
Madam Secretary General of Francophonie,

Armenia, as the current Chair of the Francophonie Summit, has consistently continued its activities within the framework of Yerevan’s Francophone call to live together, initiating the resolution on living together during the Covid-19 pandemic, which was adopted in November 2020 by the Francophonie Ministerial Conference.

Our country has carefully pursued the activities of La Francophonie in the digital and economic domains and the significant progress achieved under the leadership of the Secretary General. In this regard, we expressed our gratitude to the OIF for its efforts to develop economic cooperation between different regions of the French-speaking world.

I would also like to emphasize the importance of the declaration to be adopted on the French language, which will become a significant document on the French language, recording its role in uniting all Francophone countries.

Finally, Armenia has accompanied and supported the Secretary-General in the implementation of these reforms, and it’s good that our organization is now working towards the implementation of the road map based on the main priorities of Francophonie and implemented in a reaffirmed and new strategic framework.

Armenia is convinced that this declared universal aspiration will allow to ensure the recognition of Francophonie at the international level, as well as the spread of its values and ideas, to which my country continues to remain deeply committed.

Your Excellencies, dear colleagues,
Madam Secretary General of Francophonie,

Concluding my speech, I would like to once again express my gratitude to the Secretary General for her willingness and involvement.

Now it’s time for me to hand over to you, Mr. President, the presidency of the Francophonie Summit, wishing you every success.

Thanks for attention”.

After the speech, the presidency of the International Organization of Francophonie was transferred from Armenia to Tunisia, with a symbolic handshake ceremony between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Tunisia.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, within the framework of the 18th summit of the International Organization of Francophonie, which is being held in Djerba, Tunisia.

The interlocutors referred to the to the results of the quadrilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of the European Council, as well as the Presidents of France and Azerbaijan held in Prague in October this year. The importance of the implementation of the agreements reached by the Prague Statement and the implementation of steps aimed at strengthening peace and stability in the region were emphasized.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need to eliminate the consequences of the Azerbaijani aggression, to immediately withdraw the Azerbaijani units from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Nikol Pashinyan and Charles Michel also exchanged ideas on the development of further cooperation between Armenia and the European Union.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau within the framework of the 18th summit of the International Organization of Francophonie, which is being held in Djerba, Tunisia.

The interlocutors discussed various issues related to the further development of Armenian-Canadian relations. In this regard, Nikol Pashinyan and Justin Trudeau highlighted the Canadian government’s decision to open an embassy of Canada in Armenia. The parties expressed confidence that the activity of the embassy in Yerevan will give new impetus to the expansion and deepening of bilateral political and economic relations.

Prime Minister Pashinyan attached importance to the continuous support of the Canadian side to the democratic reform agenda of Armenia.

Justin Trudeau expressed the readiness and interest of the government led by him to contribute to the effective implementation of institutional reforms in our country and the development of bilateral cooperation.

Issues related to the expansion of Canadian investments in Armenia were also discussed at the meeting.

Prime Minister Pashinyan presented to Justin Trudeau the consequences of the Azerbaijani aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia and the positions of the Armenian side in the direction of their elimination. The sides exchanged thoughts on the Nagorno Karabakh issue, the processes taking place in the South Caucasus, as well as various issues of mutual interest.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, within the framework of the 18th summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie, held in Djerba, Tunisia, had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazović.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the expansion of relations between Armenia and Montenegro.

The sides pointed out the high level of political dialogue, which is a good basis for promoting economic cooperation.

The parties exchanged ideas on the prospects for the development of trade and economic ties. Initiating joint projects in tourism, air communication, as well as in various branches of mutual interest was assessed promising. In this regard, an agreement was reached to continue active contacts.

The Prime Ministers of Armenia and Montenegro also emphasized that there are rich cultural ties between the two countries and peoples, which should be deepened and strengthened.

The sides attaches importance to conducting mutual high level visits.

* * *

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, within the framework of the 18th summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie, held in Djerba, Tunisia, had a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The interlocutors highly appreciated Armenia’s presidency of the International Organization of La Francophonie and referred to the discussions taking place within the framework of the summit held in Tunisia. Issues related to the organization’s priorities and future plans were discussed.

Nikol Pashinyan and Emmanuel Macron also exchanged ideas on the results of the quadrilateral meeting of the leaders of Armenia, France, Azerbaijan and the President of the European Council held in Prague in October this year. Implementation of steps aimed at strengthening stability and security in the South Caucasus was emphasized.

Prime Minister Pashinyan stressed the need to eliminate the consequences of Azerbaijani aggression, and of immediate withdrawal of Azerbaijani units from the sovereign territory of Armenia.

The leaders of Armenia and France also discussed issues related to the further development of the Armenian-French bilateral cooperation.