Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg and his delegation on 3 February, the government press service informed NEWS.am.

Noting that this year marks the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia and Austria, Pashinyan stressed the great potential for cooperation between the two countries.

In the context of its implementation, he underlined the necessity of the Armenian and Austrian governments' active cooperation in political, economic and humanitarian spheres. At the same time Nikol Pashinyan welcomed holding of the Armenian-Austrian business forum in Yerevan which would contribute to the expansion of ties between private sectors, elaboration and implementation of new joint investment programs, and increase of bilateral trade turnover.

Schallenberg, in turn, said that he had effective talks with his Armenian counterpart and underlined that Austria is interested in deepening the cooperation with Armenia in all directions. He highlighted the enlargement of cooperation in the economic sphere adding that the Austrian businessmen are very interested in the opportunities for the development of the activities in our country. Mr. Schallenberg highly assessed the reforms being implemented by the Armenian government aimed at the development and strengthening of democracy and stated that Austria is ready to assist Armenia in their further effective implementation.

The sides also touched upon the developments in the South Caucasus, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, underlining the necessity of resumption of the negotiation process in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship and the comprehensive settlement. In this regard, the visit of Minsk Group Co-Chairs to the region was highlighted. The possibility of demarcation and delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the issues of providing the necessary conditions were also discussed.