11:15,
YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met on June 14 with Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria Nikola Minchev on the sidelines of his official visit in Sofia, the Armenian MFA said.
The sides highly valued the bilateral relations that are based on historical commonalities and warm friendly ties between the two nations, highlighting the contacts at inter-parliamentary level for deepening and expanding those ties. They both emphasized the readiness to boost the ties between the Armenian and Bulgarian parliamentary friendship groups, as well as expand the partnership in international parliamentary platforms.
FM Mirzoyan introduced the Bulgarian Parliament Speaker on the ongoing reforms in Armenia aimed at developing democracy, protecting human rights and ensuring rule of law. The FM stated that the democratic reforms in Armenia are irreversible.
The sides exchanged ideas also about the opportunities for developing the economic cooperation. From the perspective of intensifying the human contacts and business ties, they highlighted the implementation of the program of direct flights between Yerevan and Sofia.
The development prospects of the Armenia-European Union ties were also discussed.
Mirzoyan briefed Nikola Minchev on the efforts made by the Armenian side to establish peace and stability in the South Caucasus, as well as the latest developments relating to the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process. The necessity of achieving a lasting and comprehensive settlement to the NK conflict through peaceful negotiations under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship was emphasized.
Minister Mirzoyan also touched upon the current humanitarian situation caused by the 2020 war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh, particularly the issues relating to the repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives, who are still illegally held in Azerbaijan, the preservation of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the territories under the Azerbaijani control and Azerbaijan’s deliberate actions to cause humanitarian problems in Artsakh.