YEREVAN. – Armenia underscores the development of relations with the United Kingdom. 

National Assembly (NA) Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan stated the abovementioned Wednesday during his talk with John Whittingdale, Vice-Chairman of the British-Armenian Parliamentary Friendship Group of the British House of Commons, and MP Stephen Pound.   

Abrahamyan highlighted the need to invigorate interparliamentary cooperation, informs the NA press service. He expressed a conviction that parliamentary diplomacy is an important lever toward boosting political discourse among countries. The Armenian parliament chairman considered it indispensable to carry out specific programs.    

Hovik Abrahamyan also reflected on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and the Armenian-Turkish relations, and stressed the necessity to form an objective view concerning these matters. In this context, he highly appreciated the British parliamentarians’ visit to Karabakh.    

Speaking on Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union, the NA head noted that this decision is in the best interests of the country. He added, however, that this decision does not at all mean a suspension, or a relaxation, of Armenia’s political dialogue with the European Union (EU).

In turn John Whittingdale reaffirmed their readiness to contribute to the development of bilateral interparliamentary ties and the deepening of interstate relations. In his words, Europe, and especially the United Kingdom, is interested in developing relations with Armenia. 

In the British MPs’ conviction, Armenia-EU relations are placed on good grounds.