Dear Minister,

Dear attendees,

First of all, I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. Schallenberg, for the invitation to Vienna and the warm welcome. The contacts between the two countries, between me and my counterpart, my dear friend, are quite intensive, and today as well, we had fruitful discussions on many issues of mutual interest.

We commended the high level of political dialogue between Armenia and Austria, touched upon the dynamically developing bilateral cooperation in recent years in areas of economy, trade, business ties, science, education, culture, people-to-people contacts and other spheres. In this context, we mentioned the role and activities of the Armenian-Austrian joint commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation as well as the prospects of effective use of the existing untapped potential in all mentioned areas.

Mr. Minister,

I am glad to mention the significant increase in bilateral trade turnover between our countries during the first half of this year. In this context I recall the Armenian-Austrian business forum that took place in Yerevan during your visit last year.

I give special importance also to the commitment of Austria to support the sustainable development efforts in Armenia. During your visit in 2022, the opening of the Austrian Development Agency coordination office in Yerevan, indeed, was a stimulus for the development of our relations.

Today we also exchanged views on our cooperation in various international platforms, including in the framework of the UN and the OSCE.

A wide range of issues related to the Armenia-EU partnership was on the agenda of our meeting. 

We touched upon the importance of the EU's consistent assistance to democratic reforms and the development of institutional capacities in Armenia. We attached particular importance to the activities of the EU civilian monitoring mission operating in Armenia since February. It makes an important contribution to reducing tensions and preventing escalations at international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I expressed my gratitude to my colleague and the Government of Austria for the participation of the Austrian observers in this mission.

I would like to note that we also discussed the possibilities of the Armenia-EU cooperation in the field of security, taking into account the inaugural meeting of the Armenia-EU political and security dialogue held in January this year.

Dear attendees,

Our discussion today also focused on developments on regional security and stability. I briefed my colleague on the security situation in the South Caucasus, Armenia's vision of establishing peace, the process of normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the efforts made by Armenia and the international community to achieve results.

We are confident, and I believe that Armenia is not alone on this, that stable peace in the region is possible if the issues of the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are properly addressed within the framework of an international mechanism, through the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue. In this context, it is regrettable to state that instead of engaging in such a dialogue, Azerbaijan is currently pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. A clear manifestation of it is the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh which has been going on for more than seven months now. Nagorno-Karabakh is now on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. This is happening in violation of international humanitarian norms and contrary to numerous appeals of international actors, resolutions and the legally binding Order of the International Court of Justice of February 22, which, by the way, the Court reaffirmed with its Order of July 6 this year. 

In the negotiation process with Azerbaijan, the key issue is to ensure maximum certainty regarding the interstate border. In this context, it should be emphasised that the borders of the former Soviet Republics, as recognized by the Alma-Ata Declaration, serve as the interstate border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

Armenia is also interested in unblocking the regional economic and transport infrastructure, which should be based on the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries and according to the principles of equality and reciprocity.

Of course, for reaching agreements to the mentioned issues, the general atmosphere is very important: the rejection of the use of force or threat of use of force as well as of hostile and aggressive rhetoric, the solution of urgent humanitarian issues, in particular, the release of all Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan are important for creating an environment conducive for peace. 

In conclusion, I would like to note that in the above-mentioned issues and, as a priority, in lifting the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Armenia expects effective steps by international actors, especially by the members of the UN Security Council.

Mr. Minister, dear friend,

Thank you once again for the warm welcome and fruitful, comprehensive conversation. I am greatly interested in continuing this dialogue.

Thank you very much!

***

In its question to Minister Ararat Mirzoyan the journalist asked about the trade relations, in particular the recent publication of the Financial times regarding a certain amount of used cars being re-exported to Russia from Armenia. “Do you regard this as potential sanctions circumvention and are you concerned about possible sanctions by the EU against your country?”

Ararat Mirzoyan: Well, of course, this war affected the Armenian economy as well, both positively and negatively. But, since you are speaking about sanctions, I would like to once again publicly and loudly reassure everybody who is interested in this topic that Armenia is not going to become a space where the sanctions could be bypassed. We are working very closely and in a very transparent manner not only with the respective bodies from the EU, but also from the U.S. and elsewhere to make sure that the will of the Government of the Republic of Armenia is to avoid helping to create an environment where the sanctions could be bypassed. We are open, and we are transparent. If there are problems, and I guess there can be problems, as elsewhere, the problems are identified in time and proper solutions are given to them.

Question: “Mr Schallenberg offered Vienna as a place of talks between Turkey and Armenia. What is your answer to that? Are you considering this?”

Ararat Mirzoyan: Well, once again, my appreciation to my dear colleague for offering Vienna to become a space for Armenian Turkish normalization process. I believe a couple of times our representatives already met here in Vienna and had an opportunity to discuss the normalization, and they will hopefully continue doing so. We had a pause, I would like to add this, in this process, I believe due to the electoral campaign and elections in Turkey. Now it is time to continue the talks on the normalization, and there are very concrete steps that already can be implemented by both sides to make sure that we are on the right track and the things are moving towards the final, comprehensive and holistic normalization of relations, opening the border between the two countries and establishing diplomatic relations. And here, of course, I primarily speak about opening the border between Armenia and Turkey for third country nationals, but also Armenian and Turkish nationals with diplomatic passports, and there are some other projects which are being discussed as well.

Follow-up question: “There are no further talks planned right now?”

Ararat Mirzoyan: There is no concrete date agreed.