I welcome you to Yerevan, I am glad that today the Armenia-European Union partnership has gained new momentum. And within the framework of the agenda, we will have the opportunity to discuss a number of issues of mutual interest. This was stated by the speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, in his opening remarks at the 4th Meeting of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee taking place today in Yerevan.

Simonyan added as follows, in particular “Taking this opportunity, I would also like to congratulate you on the elections to the European Parliament held last year and on participating in the first session of this committee with a new composition. I am confident that in the near future we will have even closer and more effective cooperation, since there is a strong political will and the demand of our society.

I would also like to express my gratitude to all the Members of the European Parliament who have followed the processes taking place in the region, the challenges facing Armenia, listened to our calls and, in the reports adopted by and speeches made at the European Parliament, have condemned the destructive war unleashed by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, the forced displacement of more than 100,000 Armenians, the occupation of the sovereign territory of Armenia, the gross violations of human rights, the fact of [Armenian] captives being held in Azerbaijan, the vandalism committed against Armenian cultural and religious heritage. Unfortunately, all these reactions were not enough and international humanitarian law was defeated in Nagorno-Karabakh.”