The first congress of the Armenians of Europe will be held October 18-19 in the building of the European Parliament in Brussels. As reported by the Armenian National Committee of Europe, which is the organizer of the forum, discussion of a number of issues is expected at the congress, including the preservation of the Armenian culture and the promotion of relations between Armenia and the European Union. According to the source, the number of Armenians in Europe exceeds two million. These basically are descendants of Armenians, who fled to Europe from the genocide in Ottoman Turkey in early last century, those coming from Near East countries, as well as those who moved to Europe from Armenia after the collapse of the USSR.