On January 19, Alen Simonyan, the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia met with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives.
At the meeting, Alen Simonyan presented the consistent progress of Armenia made towards strengthening democratic institutions and rule of law since the 2018 Velvet Revolution. He emphasized the efforts made by the authorities of Armenia and the parliament in combating corruption aimed at consistently improving transparency and accountability, he stressed the role of free and fair elections in ensuring the irreversibility of reforms.
Alen Simonyan drew his colleague’s attention to the fact that from 2018 to 2021, Armenia has improved its Transparency International Corruption Perception Index from 35 to 49 and by the Freedom House assessment, the Global Freedom Score has registered positive growth - from 45 to 53. The sides have reiterated that democracy is one of the major pillars for Armenia-U.S. cooperation.
Alen Simonyan presented a series of legislative reforms of Armenia in the concrete spheres.
The President of the National Assembly informed his colleague about the current phase of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the situation in the region after the 44-day war. He reaffirmed the readiness of Armenia to work for establishing long-lasting peace and stability in the region. He stressed that the Azerbaijani authorities keep openly threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and continue the encroachments against its territory. The sides agreed that the final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be reached only through peaceful negotiations – under the auspice of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. Issues on urgent release of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan, as well as the opening of all communication lines in the region were also discussed.
The interlocutors referred to the strengthening of Armenia-U.S. inter-parliamentary relations and emphasized expanding the cooperation in that direction. In this regard, the President of the National Assembly highly valued the activity of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, which has bipartisan support and plays a key role in cementing these relations. Alen Simonyan expressed his gratitude to the Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues for their valuable contribution in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the adoption of the relevant resolution.
The Order of Honor was handed to Nancy Pelosi on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and the United States, for the significant contribution in strengthening and developing the Armenian-American friendly relations.
The Head of the Minorities of the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Kevin McCarthy, Republicans David Valadao, Gus Bilirakis, Democrats Frank Pallone, Jackie Speier, Adam Schiff and Anna Eshoo took part in the meeting.
