On February 18, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian visited the Czech Republic.

Upon arriving in Prague, Edward Nalbandian visited the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and had a meeting with Přemysl Sobotka, the President of the Senate.

Přemysl Sobotka expressed satisfaction on cooperation between the Parliaments of the two countries and said that the visit of the Speaker of Armenian National Assembly to the Czech Republic this year will give a new impetus to dynamically developing Armenian-Czech relations.

Minister Nalbandian underlined recent positive trends in cooperation between the two countries and said that Parliaments have an important role in strengthening and deepening of bilateral relations. Noting the organization of event dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Spitak earthquake in Senate of the Czech Republic in December 2008 with support and under the patronage of  Přemysl Sobotka, Minister Nalbandian thanked President of the Senate for that initiative.

Přemysl Sobotka and Edward Nalbandian also touched upon the relations between Armenia and the European Union. The two stressed that the EU “Eastern Partnership” initiative opens new perspectives for deepening of cooperation.

The agenda of the meeting between Edward Nalbandian and Karel Schwarzenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the President of the EU Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs included a wide range of issues concerning bilateral cooperation, Armenian-European Union relations, regional and international issues.

Ministers Nalbandian and Schwarzenberg highly appreciated recent intensification of of Armenian-Czech cooperation and stressed the necessity to enlarge legal field as an important condition for giving a new impetus to the partnership.

The two touched upon the ways of deepening of economic cooperation. In that context Armenian Foreign Minister said that the results of Armenian-Czech business conference held in Yerevan in 2008 prove the existence of an important potential for deepening of cooperation in economic area.

The two also had a detailed discussion on different fields of Armenian-European Union cooperation. Karel Schwarzenberg mentioned that till the “Eastern Partnership” summit to be held in Prague in May, the European Commission and the EU Presidency will work out specific proposals in that direction.

Minister Nalbandian welcomed “Eastern Partnership” initiative and attached importance to the deepening of cooperation to be taken by that initiative and the enlargement of areas of interaction.  

Armenian Foreign Minister and his Czech counterpart also discussed recent developments in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) peace process. In that context Edward Nalbandian attracted the attention of the President of the EU Ministerial Council to Azerbaijan’s militaristic policy and underlined that, it damages the EU steps aimed at the maintenance of stability and security in the South Caucasus.

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and the Czech Republic also touched upon the negotiations on normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. On behalf of the EU Karel Schwarzenberg expressed support to the steps initiated by Armenia in that direction.

The meeting between Ministers was followed by the joint press conference.

On the same day Edward Nalbandian returned Yerevan.