YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Thursday received the delegation led by the Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Danko.

Welcoming the guests, the President stressed that Armenia attaches great importance to the inter-parliamentary cooperation, considering it as an important component of interstate ties. Sargsyan expressed hope that the visit of the Speaker of the Slovakian National Council will open a new page in the process of strengthening and deepening of ties between the legislative bodies of the two friendly states.  The President also noted that although this is the first visit of Mr Danko to Armenia as a Speaker of the National Council, he remembers his visit to Armenia in April 2015 in the framework of the events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In this context, President Sargsyan expressed gratitude to Adrej Danko for his principled stance on the Armenian Genocide recognition and condemnation, also highly appreciating the efforts of the National Council representatives, who contributed to the recognition, condemnation and criminalization of the Armenian Genocide by Slovakia. 

The Armenian President expressed satisfaction with the fact that Slovakia is one of the key partners of Armenia in Europe, with which the country is eager to expand and develop cooperation in political, trade and economic, cultural and other areas of mutual interest.

The interlocutors considered efficient the Armenian-Slovakian cooperation in the framework of international organizations.

The Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic thanked on behalf of him and the delegation led by him for the warm hospitality in Armenia, stressing that he greatly respects the Armenian people and its centuries-long history and highly appreciates the Armenian people’s contribution to the European civilization.

Apart from the Armenian-Slovakian bilateral ties, the interlocutors also referred to the Armenian-EU relations based on common European values and regional issues, including the Karabakh conflict and international recognition process of the Armenian Genocide.