YEREVAN. - Within the framework of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments being held in Vienna, speaker Alen Simonyan of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia on Wednesday met with speaker Andreas Norlen of the Swedish Riksdag (parliament), the NA press service informed.

Simonyan stressed that Sweden is an important and reliable partner for Armenia.

Both sides noted that in recent years the Armenia-Sweden interparliamentary cooperation is at a qualitatively new phase, and NA speaker assured that the new Armenian parliament, headed by him, will continue to implement all the agreements aimed at deepening the cooperation.

Reflecting on Armenia-Sweden cooperation within the international parliamentary platforms, Simonyan emphasized the adoption of positive and peace-promoting positions by the Swedish parliamentarians on sensitive issues for Armenia.

The speaker of the Armenian legislature lauded the support of Sweden to the democratic processes being carried out in Armenia, and thanked for the program aimed at the development of the capacities of the NA

Touching upon the cooperation with Sweden in the format of Armenia-European Union (EU) relations, Alen Simonyan highlighted the full and effective implementation of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, noting that Armenia expects Sweden's assistance in this matter.

The speaker of the Swedish Riksdag, in turn, warmly recalled his visit to Armenia. He highlighted the fact that after the 44-day Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war last fall, Armenia did not draw back from the path of democracy. Referring to the snap parliamentary elections in Armenia on June 20, Norlen congratulated the head of Armenia’s legislature on holding these elections at a high level.

Also, Andreas Norlen expressed readiness to make every effort to develop Armenia-Sweden cooperation—and not only within the framework of bilateral, but also Armenia-EU cooperation.

The interlocutors touched also upon the current phase in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, stating that the peaceful settlement of this conflict shall take place on the basis of the respective recommendations by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the well-known agreed principles. In addition, Armenian NA speaker presented information on the work being carried out on the issues of returning the Armenian prisoners of war being detained by Azerbaijan, and asked his Swedish counterpart to assist in the return of these detainees to Armenia as soon as possible.