YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Wednesday received the delegation headed by President of the Belgian Senate, Christine Defraigne.

Welcoming the guests, the President attached great importance to the role of parliamentary diplomacy in the development of ties between the two countries. “You are in a country, where Belgium is perceived as a friendly country and reliable partner, relations with which are based on warm links, mutual trust, similar system of values and comparable development vision.

Ms Defraigne, we are more than pleased to welcome you in Armenia, since you are always attentive to the problems of our people. You have a considerate attitude towards Armenia and issues of concern to Armenians. For many years you spared no effort to strengthen the Armenian-Belgian ties. You are always a desired and welcome guest in Armenia,” Sargsyan said. 

For her part, the President of the Belgian Senate thanked for the President’s warm words and reception, agreeing with Sargsyan’s assessment of the Armenian-Belgian ties.  “Speaking of one of the proofs of our similar system of values, I must say that in 1998 the Belgian Senate was one of the first ones in European countries to adopt a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide -  a powerful resolution, which was followed by the resolution of the House of Representatives and Prime Minister Charles Michel’s speech in 2015, leaing no place for ambiguity. And this was very important, since we have a debt to hand over to the next generation,” Christine Defraigne said.

At the meeting the interlocutors also discussed the possibilities of expanding the Armenian-Belgian cooperation in all the areas of mutual interest. Apart from this, they referred to the regional challenges and issues, as well as the Karabakh conflict settlement process.