Socioeconomic inclusion of the more than 100,000 forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and addressing their short- and long-term needs is paramount. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in Brussels during a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on Friday.

Pashinyan said their collective efforts should be focused on giving the aforesaid Armenian refugees the opportunity to restore a dignified life through housing and economic activity policies in Armenia.

Armenia remains committed to the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan—and based on mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, in accordance with the Alma Ata declaration of 1991. Armenia is also fully committed to the delimitation of borders based on the aforesaid declaration and the unblocking of all regional communications, which is based on full respect for the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality, and reciprocity of countries, the Armenian PM noted.

To achieve this goal, Armenia has introduced the Crossroads of Peace initiative, which aims to promote connectivity and dialogue with Armenia’s neighboring countries and beyond. In order to strengthen synergy in the broader region, Armenia seek to integrate its aforementioned initiative with the EU's Global Gateway strategy and expects the support of its partners in this matter, Pashinyan stated.

He expressed a belief that their shared vision of a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous future will continue to serve as the pillar and guiding beacon of their mutually trusting relations.

In closing, Nikol Pashinyan thanked once again for promoting this dialogue and for the continued support of Armenia.