Ararat Mirzoyan: Good afternoon, dear colleagues, dear Ms. Fajon, dear Madam Minister,

I warmly welcome you and your delegation to the Republic of Armenia. I warmly recall my visit to Slovenia in 2023, we had very interesting interactions within the framework of the Bled Strategic Forum, and now it is both an honor and a pleasure to host you and your delegation in Armenia.

This visit presents a great opportunity to further develop our cooperation and marks an important milestone in the deepening of our relations. Today, we held a truly extensive and comprehensive discussion, covering both our bilateral agenda and regional and international developments. I would like to underline a few key points.

• First, the high-level political dialogue between Armenia and Slovenia: it is progressing in a rather intensive manner and is rich in content. We highly value our friendly relations with Slovenia, which are based primarily on shared values and, of course, mutual interests. In recent years, which I mentioned, as well as our exchanges on international platforms, we have brought an interesting dynamic to our relations. I must emphasize that we are both ready to further expand this cooperation.
• Secondly, I would like to mention the specific areas where we see potential for bilateral cooperation. Today, we discussed sectors such as high technologies, information technologies/IT, innovative agriculture, education, tourism, green energy, pharmaceuticals and many others of mutual interest. Of course, an important objective is to increase the volume of trade. In this context, we also spoke about the cooperation that already exists, and must be further expanded, between “Armenia’s Investment Support Center” and the “SPIRIT Slovenia” agency.
• We have established an important format of dialogue between our “Yerevan Dialogue” Forum and the Bled Strategic Forum. I believe this cooperation holds great promise for producing meaningful results.
• I also highly value our cooperation in humanitarian matters. In this regard, I would like once again, this time publicly, to express our gratitude to Slovenia for the continuous programs implemented in support of women and children forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.
• I want to emphasize that we value our relations with Slovenia not only in the bilateral context I just mentioned, but also in the framework of the Armenia–European Union partnership. I’d like to note, and I believe Madam Minister will speak about this as well, that we enjoy Slovenia’s full support on actually all points of our agenda. Moreover, we see Slovenia’s willingness to further strengthen its support within the Armenia–EU cooperation processes.
• Surely, our cooperation in multilateral platforms is also of great importance, particularly within the United Nations Security Council and other international fora. We have had numerous opportunities to witness how effective this cooperation can be.

Today We also touched upon our regional issues. In a world marked by global uncertainty and shifting perceptions, cooperation among like-minded partners, steadfast commitment to the norms of international law and the right choice of priorities are more crucial than ever. Also in this regard, the cooperation between Armenia and Slovenia can be considered exemplary.

I expressed my gratitude and appreciation for Slovenia’s position and statement regarding the agreement on the text of the Peace Treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I also briefed my counterpart on the most recent developments in this process. We hope that Armenia’s peace agenda will soon begin to bear tangible results. In particular, we discussed the Peace Treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As we have stated before, we are ready to begin consultations with Azerbaijan as soon as possible to determine the time and venue for the signing of the agreement.

Ms. Fajon, I spoke about our political agenda, but I would like to conclude by underscoring the strong personal ties that exist between us, you and me, between our colleagues in the delegations and between our diplomatic representatives in various capitals. I want to conclude by emphasizing the importance of these personal connections. They truly play a significant role and genuinely enable us to speak of a strong friendship between the peoples of Armenia and Slovenia. I believe this is a solid foundation that guarantees the continued friendship between our nations. 

Thank you for the multi-layered and fruitful discussions.