Armenia and Slovakia intend to deepen relations in all directions, said Armenian FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Miroslav Lajcak on Monday in Yerevan at a joint press conference. 

The opening of the Slovak Embassy in Armenia took place immediately after the press conference.

According to Mnatsakanyan, it has become a good tradition to start the year with a meeting in Yerevan (Lajchak visited the Armenian capital and last March as the current chairman of the OSCE). 

According to the minister, after the establishment of diplomatic relations, the contacts between the two countries deepen, and the opening of the embassy will bring them to a new level and enrich the agenda.

The minister said issues of cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats were discussed at a meeting with a colleague, from political dialogue and trade and economic cooperation to cultural exchange.

“We touched on various areas - innovation, IT, agribusiness, tourism, strengthening political dialogue,” the minister said. According to him, there will be an inter-parliamentary and decentralized cooperation. 

An exchange of views took place on the Armenia-EU agenda. “Armenia is grateful to Slovakia for ratification of the deal. Slovakia made this one of the first. We believe that the Eastern Partnership is an important platform, especially for countries that have common values,” the FM said, noting the role of Slovakia in the development of relations between Armenia and the EU and as a member of the Visegrad Group. The parties discussed the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and recent meetings.

“I highlighted the importance of implementing the agreements on preparing peoples for peace,” he said.

Lajcak noted that the opening of the embassy is designed to enhance cooperation and attract Slovak business to Armenia. Agreeing with a colleague on all of the above issues and areas of cooperation, Lajcak noted that the Eastern Partnership summit was due in June, and the Visegrad Group meeting would be held in April. 

Armenia and Slovakia are members of the UN Human Rights Council, he said adding that they are ready to share their experience.