OFFICIAL VISIT OF RA PRESIDENT TO ITALY SCHEDULED FOR LATE JANUARY 2005
YEREVAN, November 23 (Noyan Tapan). An official visit of RA President
Robert Kocharian to Italy is scheduled for late January 2005. It was
mentioned during the November 23 joint press conference of Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vartan Oskanian and Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Italy Margerita Boniver. The Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Italy said that the purpose of her arrival in
Armenia is to prepare the visit of President Kocharian to Italy. The
sides highly estimated the level of the Armenian-Italian relations both
in terms of the political dialogue and in the sphere of economic and
cultural relations. Accoridng to M. Boniver, Italy not only strives
for the further development of bilateral relations with Armenia,
but it is interested in the deepening of cooperation within the
framework of the European Union. “We think that the “New Neighborhood”
program will be useful both for the countries of the South Caucasus
and for the countries-members of the European Union,” said Margerita
Boniver. As for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict she said that
Italy is for the peaceful settlement of the conflict and supports
the mission of the OSCE Minsk Group. Both diplomats gave assurance
that the upcoming visit of Robert Kocharian to Italy will become an
additional stimulus for the development of the bilateral relations.