YEREVAN. – Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who is on a working visit in Stockholm, on Wednesday met with speaker Andreas Norlen of the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

They touched upon the prospects of further development of the friendly relations established between the two countries, expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation in bilateral and multilateral platforms. Minister Mirzoyan highly appreciated Sweden's support, including at the parliamentary level, for democratic reforms in Armenia, protection of human rights and rule of law, as well as the fight against corruption.

In the context of further deepening the Armenia-EU partnership, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag exchanged views on the effective implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.

Minister Mirzoyan presented to his interlocutor the situation resulting from the 44-day war unleashed against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) last fall, the infiltration of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the sovereign territory of Armenia since May 12, and their recent aggression. He stressed the importance of a proper and targeted response from the international community in the context of de-escalating the tension and stabilizing the situation in the region.

Touching upon the humanitarian issues requiring urgent solution, Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the need for the return of all Armenian prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees still held in Azerbaijan, as well as the need to overcome the humanitarian issues created in Artsakh as a result of the aforesaid war.