On 17 April, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received a US congressional delegation consisting of both Democrats and Republicans.

As reported the Department of News and Public Relations of the National Assembly, welcoming the guests to the National Assembly, the head of parliament highly appreciated the role of inter-parliamentary relations and valued the effectiveness of parliamentary diplomacy.

The parliamentary speaker talked about the revolution that took place in Armenia and the extensive reforms that are being implemented in various sectors following the revolution.

Mirzoyan also presented the priorities on the agenda of the legislature of a country that has made the transition to a parliamentary system of governance and emphasized the role of exchange of experiences, reciprocal visits and other formats of inter-parliamentary partnership in the implementation of those priorities.

Touching upon Armenia’s foreign policy agenda, the parliamentary speaker presented Armenia’s position on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict exclusively through peaceful negotiations and in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group and drew the congressional delegates’ attention to the US government’s funding for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, as well as the assistance to actions that are called for advancing the peaceful negotiations.

Expressing gratitude for the cordial reception and introducing the delegates, Co-Chair of the US House Democracy Partnership (HDP) David Price (D-North Carolina) stated that the delegates had followed the events that took place in Armenia and welcome the democratic processes and reforms in the country.

Vern Buchanan, the other co-chair of the HDP, stated that Armenia has created favorable conditions for further deepening and expansion of US-Armenia relations, and in this context, he valued the role of the Armenian American community. He also particularly emphasized the need for more active economic cooperation and the implementation of an effective investment policy.

The parties thoroughly touched upon inter-parliamentary cooperation, parliamentary diplomacy, democratic processes, the electoral system, economic reforms, the investment policy, the issues of refugees and women and issues related to other sectors.

Among the participants of the wide-format meeting were Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Vahe Enfiajyan, as well as MPs Lilit Makunts, Edmon Marukyan, Ruben Rubinyan, Vladimir Vardanyan, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, Babken Tunyan and Mane Tandilyan.