On October 7, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian who was in Paris with a working visit had a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. It was the second meeting of Ministers during this year.

Ministers Nalbandian and Kouchner highly appreciated the close friendly relationship established between Armenia and France and attached importance to the undertaking of further steps for the development of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and France had detailed talks on Armenia - European Union relations and the perspectives of their development.

The two discussed the process of settlement of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) issue. Edward Nalbandian highly appreciated the constructive involvement of France as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair country.

Edward Nalbandian and Bernard Kouchner exchanged views on the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. Within that context, Minister Kouchner welcomed the process of establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey and expressed hope that it will give notable results in near future.

Before the meeting, Foreign Ministers of Armenia and France signed Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the Republic of France on abolishing visa requirement for holders of diplomatic passports.
That agreement was the first steps in the process of visa facilitation regime with the EU countries.

Afterwards, Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Jean-David Levitte, Diplomatic Adviser to the President of France. In course of the meeting, the two discussed wide range of issues concerning the expansion of friendly cooperation between Armenia and France. They both expressed satisfaction with the high level of Armenian-French relationship. They discussed several regional and international issues of mutual interest. Minister Nalbandian thanked for permanent attention and support provided by the President of France for the issues of Armenia’s great importance, as well as for the constructive role of France in the processes of maintenance of peace and stability in the South Caucasus region.

On the same day, Edward Nalbandian participated in the 35th session of the UNESCO’s General Conference which is dedicated to the discussion of the main directions of the organization’s activity during the next two years.

Edward Nalbandian delivered comprehensive speech in which he touched upon Armenia-UNESCO partnership, the role of UNESCO in protection of cultural heritage.

Minister Nalbandian condemned the policy of destruction of the Armenian historical heritage carried out by Azerbaijan on state level, which contradicts the principles of UNESCO and urged the international community to undertake steps to prevent such actions.

On the same day, Minister Nalbandian had a meeting with Irina Bobkova, the newly elected Director-General of UNESCO. Congratulating Mrs. Bobkova on her election as Director-General of the organization Armenian Foreign Minister expressed hope that she would have an important contribution in promotion UNESCO’s goals.

Armenian Foreign Minister expressed his gratitude for the projects and events implemented in Armenia with UNESCO’s participation and emphasized Armenia’s determination to continue efficient cooperation with the organization.

Edward Nalbandian informed Director-General of UNESCO on the 500th Anniversary of the Armenian printing to be celebrated 3 years later and asked to support inclusion of that Anniversary in the UNECO calendar, as well as expressed Armenia’s determination to apply for nominating Yerevan as World Book Capital 2012.

Armenian Foreign Minister thanked for UNESCO’s support in organizing international conference on “Cultural policy and Policy for Culture” to be held in Yerevan in November.

Irina Bokova thanked for congratulations and mentioned that cooperation established between former Ambassadors of Armenia and Bulgaria to Paris would have its effective continuation.

Foreign Minister of Armenian invited Director-General of UNESCO to visit Armenia.