Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands to Armenia Nico Schermers, who is the first resident Ambassador of the Netherlands to Armenia.

The Prime Minister greeted the diplomat and stated that the opening of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Yerevan and the appointment of the resident Ambassador opens new opportunities for the development of cooperation between the two countries.

Touching upon the situation created after the war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Pashinyan emphasized that the return of prisoners of war is a priority issue for the Armenian side and that the latter continues to make intensive efforts in this direction.

In his turn, Nico Schermers considered his diplomatic mission in Armenia an honor and assured that he will put in maximum efforts to strengthen the relations between Armenia and the Netherlands. According to him, the aim of the opening of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Armenia is to ensure a balanced diplomatic presence in the region. Attaching importance to the high-level reciprocal visits, the Ambassador voiced hope that it will be possible to organize Prime Minister Pashinyan’s visit to the Kingdom of the Netherlands soon (the visit was postponed due to the coronavirus situation).

Schermers also expressed condolences to the Prime Minister on the death of servicemen and civilians during the war and wished the wounded a speedy recovery.

The interlocutors discussed the development of economic ties between the two countries. Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that the government’s vision is to have an economy based on knowledge and technologies and recommended that the Ambassador call the attention of Dutch companies to investments. Schermers expressed willingness to inform Dutch companies about the opportunities for investments in Armenia and work actively to boost cooperation.