Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received today the delegation led by Speaker of the Riksdag of the Kingdom of Sweden Andreas Norlén, who is in Armenia on an official visit at the invitation of Ararat Mirzoyan, and among the attendees of the enlarged meeting were Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Lena Nazaryan, chairs of parliamentary standing committees and representatives of parliamentary factions, as reported the news service of the National Assembly.
Speaker of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan delivered his opening remarks.
“Distinguished Mr. Speaker,
Dear colleagues,
Ambassadors,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
Your official visit to our country with such a representative delegation is of special significance for us. I am aware that the Speaker of the Riksdag of Sweden travels with such a delegation once every four years, and we are grateful to you for choosing Armenia this time. I believe this is one of the best ways of appreciating the democratic changes that the Armenian people made in Armenia last year.
After the non-violent, democratic revolution that took place in Armenia and the snap parliamentary elections that followed, Armenia’s parliament and government are persistently taking steps to deepen democracy and lead an unwavering struggle for rule of law and against corruption.
I would like to emphasize that, after the revolution and the proclamation of democratic changes, Sweden sincerely showed its interest in our country and expressed willingness to support those processes, and in this context, we are glad to state this approach and highly appreciate it.
As evidence of this willingness, on the last day of my visit to Sweden, on June 13, the Swedish government made an amendment to its relevant document (Swedish Reform Cooperation in Eastern Europe, Western Balkans and Turkey 2014-2020), providing the opportunity to expand financial assistance.
Dear colleagues,
Sweden is truly considered a land of mature democracy and human rights protection. The policy that the Swedish authorities have been leading to increase the role of women in society for years sets an example for us and is inspiring. Armenia has adopted a conceptual approach to the ensuring of implementation of reforms in the sphere of human rights protection and the application of international norms, and we highly appreciate Sweden’s willingness to support the democratic processes in Armenia.
Comprehensive interactions between parliaments are extremely important for the National Assembly of Armenia, and, in this context, I would like to welcome the activities of the friendship groups of our parliaments. We also attach importance to effective cooperation within international parliamentary institutions.
We highly appreciate Sweden’s balanced position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that is in line with the position of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Once again, I would like to express our gratitude to the Riksdag of Sweden for condemning the Armenian Genocide.
I would also like to express gratitude for ratifying the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement on May 2, 2019. Currently, what matters to Armenia is effective implementation of the Agreement.
Summing up, I reaffirm Armenia’s willingness to continue and to deepen our constructive dialogue,” Ararat Mirzoyan said.
At the end of the meeting, Andreas Norlén left a note in the Book of Honorable Guests of the National Assembly of Armenia, after which the high-ranking guest laid a perennial fir tree in the garden of the National Assembly and made a joint statement for the presses along with his Armenian counterpart.
