Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received President of Greece Procopios Pavlopolos who has arrived in Armenia on official visit.
Welcoming the Greek President, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the visit would help develop and expand the friendly relations between Armenia and Greece.
“Mr. President, I have kept fond recollections of our meeting in Beijing, China, held at the Forum of Asian Civilizations, where we could enjoy a detailed talk about our countries’ relations and our bilateral agenda, in general. The relations between our states and peoples are at a very high level, and I hope we will be able to establish more effective interactions against this favorable background, as well as to upgrade our cooperation in other spheres and get tangible results.
I also remember with pleasure my September meeting with the new prime minister of Greece, during which we agreed on our upcoming actions. Now we are looking forth to the first-ever Armenia-Greece-Cyprus trilateral summit due in Yerevan in January, 2020. This is a landmark event that will help us enhance the status of our relations.
I would like to state that Armenia has a special attitude towards Greece. Our people highly value the fact that back in 1996 Greece officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. I want to remind that in 2015, the Armenian Parliament officially recognized the genocides of Greeks and Assyrians. I believe it to provide a favorable groundwork for cooperation over global security matters because the recognition of genocides is not only a matter of historical recognition for us, but also an important effort aimed at the global security and prevention of genocides. Let me once again welcome you to Armenia and express my satisfaction over your visit. I am confident this will add a fresh momentum to our bilateral relations,” the Head of the Armenian Government said.
Thankful for the warm welcome, the Greek President said:
“During our meeting in Beijing I promised you to visit Armenia within a year and I am very happy that I kept my promise. Secondly, I would like to state my pleasure about Armenia’s participation in the forum of ancient civilizations because this format is very important. I hope Armenia will play a key role of its own and will foster the cooperation underway in the frame of civilizations’ dialogue.
We especially welcome the efforts made by Armenia and its people towards the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. It is a crucial undertaking, and we have bolstered this process for our part.
On the other hand, I am pleased that as part of this campaign Armenia has recognized the genocides of Greeks and Assyrians. At the same time, we also welcome and are happy over the recent passage of a resolution on the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. House of Representatives. This is not a matter of revenge for us: we are doing it in a bid to prevent the recurrence of the crime of genocide.
I am pleased with and welcome the trilateral cooperation between Armenia, Greece and Cyprus. Meetings should be held both at ministerial and top leadership levels. I am confident that the trilateral format of cooperation can not only benefit our countries, but it can also catalyze Armenia’s cooperation with the European Union.”
Thereafter, the Armenian Premier and the Greek President referred to the ongoing cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats, exchanged views on issues relevant to EU-Armenia partnership. Nikol Pashinyan made a point of the soonest possible ratification by Greece of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The parties took the opportunity to talk about regional issues. Prime Minister Pashinyan thanked Greece for its balanced position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and highly valued the bilateral cooperation in the military sector, including the training programs for Armenian officers in Greece.
“Mr. President, we are now better poised to develop the relations of our countries,” the Premier said.
“I am confident that the format of trilateral cooperation can bring us great results. I wish every success and prosperity to the Armenian nation,” the President of Greece pointed out.
