Dear Mr. Minister,
Dear colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank my colleague Zbigniew Rau for the warm welcome.
I am delighted to be in Poland in the year of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. These three decades have been years of progress, mutual trust and understanding, which provided a solid foundation for the consistent development and strengthening of our interstate relations and political dialogue.
Armenian-Polish relations are based on centuries-old friendship, common principles and values between our two peoples. In this regard, we highly appreciate Poland's support for the ongoing democratic reforms implemented by the Government of Armenia.
Today, during the discussions with my colleague, we touched upon the prospects of expanding cooperation between Armenia and Poland in areas of mutual interest. We have expressed our readiness to undertake steps towards the utilization of the great potential in Armenian-Polish economic relations, for which we have a strong legal and contractual framework of about 30 documents and an effective working platform - the Armenian-Polish Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation, the 7th session of which is scheduled to be held in Yerevan in the near future.
Of course, the volume of trade turnover between Armenia and Poland is not high, but we can commend that we have a gradual increase in this direction. We consider information technologies, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness and renewable energy to be promising areas for the activation of Armenian-Polish economic cooperation.
We also exchanged views on issues of Armenia-EU partnership agenda. We referred to the implementation of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and the steps towards further increasing the efficiency of the Eastern Partnership. In this regard, Poland, as one of the initiating countries of the Eastern Partnership, is an important actor for us, and we expect further expansion of cooperation in this direction.
Of course, a number of issues of regional stability and security were at the core of our discussions today. We touched upon our cooperation within the framework of the OSCE, where Poland is currently chairing. I presented to Mr. Rau in detail the position of Armenia regarding the processes aimed at establishing regional peace and stability.
I emphasized the key role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in the promotion of the peace process aimed at the comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan.
Dear attendees,
Unfortunately I have to underscore that despite Armenia’s efforts, we continue to encounter the provocative actions of Azerbaijan towards Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, warmongering and expansionist statements aimed at undermining regional stability and peace.
Moreover, violating the norms of international humanitarian law and the November 9 trilateral Statements, Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian PoWs and civilians hostage, using them as a tool for political speculation. In this regard, the continued support of the international community and the OSCE Chairmanship, committed to human rights and humanitarian principles is important for solving this problem.
The policy implemented by the leadership of Azerbaijan aimed at the destruction, desecration and distortion of identity of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage of Artsakh in the territories fallen under Azerbaijani control is also unacceptable. In this regard, we expect a clear, targeted and continuous response from the international community and emphasize the urgency of the involvement of relevant international organizations in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Once again, I want to emphasize that opening an era of peaceful development for Armenia and the region is our principle and strategy, and we hope that the OSCE, together with the institute of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, will use all the mechanisms in its toolkit to ensure a constructive atmosphere and create conditions for comprehensive peace.
I will conclude my speech with this. Dear Mr. Rau, thank You once again for the warm welcome and fruitful discussions.
