It is unfortunate that the formal occasion to visit here is the flood that unfortunately also damaged the St. Lazarus Island, the Mekhitarist congregation. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during a meeting with the Mekhitarist congregation and representatives of the Armenian community of Venice, in the San Lazzaro degli Armeni island of Venice.

"St. Lazarus Island, the Mekhitarist congregation is very important for our scene and history," Pashinyan said. “The academic legacy created here (...) has been put on the basis of our new science and education.

"I consider one of the great missions of our government to be at peace with our identity, our history, our past, to recognize ourselves in our entirety."

Pashinyan added that the Mekhitarist congregation shall continue to play an important role in the Armenian scene.