Pashinyan hails Italy talks as "productive, constructive"

Pashinyan hails Italy talks as

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has described his meeting with President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Giuseppe Conte in Rome as productive.

Following the meeting, the Armenian and Italian Governments signed bilateral cooperation documents: the Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Italian Republic “On Facilitating the Application of the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters” of 20 April 1959 and the Protocol Amending the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic on civil defense cooperation and emergency assistance.

"We had constructive and productive talks with Prime Minister Conte, who reaffirmed the high level of Armenian-Italian relations and our mutual willingness to promote their development," Pashinyan said in his speech.

"Armenia highly appreciates the resolution passed by the Chamber of Deputies to recognize the Armenian Genocide in April this year. Italy thereby reaffirmed its commitment to universal values, contributing to the prevention of genocides and other crimes against humanity."

A significant part of negotiations focused on trade and economic relations.

"I am pleased to note that we witnessed a tangible change for the better in this area. I stated that Italy is our second largest trading and economic partner in the European Union. It is my pleasure to note that there are all necessary prerequisites for complementing the Armenian-Italian trade and economic relations with new content," Pashinyan said.

"Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union and its close cooperation with the EU provide fertile ground for attracting investment.

"I briefed my counterpart on the Armenian-Italian Business Forum held today in Milan. We highly valued the work of the Armenian-Italian Intergovernmental Commission and expressed confidence that it would be possible to hold the Commission’s second meeting in Yerevan within the shortest possible deadlines."

The sides also discussed the opportunities for the development of tourism, citing the new Rome-Yerevan and Milan-Yerevan direct flights by Ryanair from January 2020.

"We also stressed the importance of preserving each other’s cultural heritage. We want Italy to be more involved in our education system, which will help us promote awareness of Italian culture and history," the head of the Armenian government said.

"I highly appreciated Italy’s support for the development of the European Union-Armenia partnership, including the launch of visa regime liberalization negotiations.

"I informed my counterpart of the current state of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, reaffirming Armenia’s willingness to continue endeavoring towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the OSCE Minsk Group format. In this regard, we emphasized the importance of maintaining balanced attitudes and approaches to sensitive issues."

 Top stories
The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says.
Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer.
A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says.
London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised.
Partner news
---