Armenian, Belgian MPs discuss ties

Arminfo, Yerevan
4 Apr 05

Yerevan, 4 April: Armenian MPs met a delegation of the Chamber of
Deputies of the Belgian parliament led by its chairman Herman de Croo
in an extended format at the National Assembly today.

On behalf of all Belgian MPs, Herman de Croo expressed readiness to
help Armenian delegations in international structures, the National
Assembly’s press service has told Arminfo. Croo said that Armenia was
an important country in the South Caucasus and added that Belgium was
interested in its democratic and economic development. He welcomed
Armenia’s readiness to establish friendly relations with all countries
in the region and said this would guarantee the development of the
region. Croo said that all political forces of his country were
represented in the delegation, which was a rarity.

For his part, Armenian Parliament Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan thanked
the Belgian parliament for the recognition of the Armenian genocide
back in 1998. Bagdasaryan said Armenia attaches great importance to
the visit by the Belgium delegation. He said this was the first high
level visit by a Belgian delegation to Armenia. Bagdasaryan expressed
the hope that the visit would give a boost to the development of
Armenian-Belgian relations.

The speaker also talked about the great importance of Belgium’s help
in getting Armenia involved in the EU’s New Neighborhood policy.

Touching on regional processes, Bagdasaryan pointed to Armenia’s
attempts to forge friendly relations with all countries of the region
and its readiness to resolve all issues through negotiations. However,
not always do the neighbors respond positively, he said.

By participating in the South Caucasus parliamentary initiative
along with Georgia and Azerbaijan, Armenia hopes for the creation of
a parliament of the South Caucasus countries which will serve as an
arena for discussing regional issues, Bagdasaryan said.

[Passage omitted: Armenia wants to integrate into Europe]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress