On May 17, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Arman Kirakossian met with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres who arrived in Armenia by the invitation of the RA Government to take part in the works of the donors' international conference held in Yerevan on May 17, 2011.

Welcoming the guest, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister first of all thanked the High Commissioner for the acceptance of the invitation and participation in the conference, afterwards expressed satisfaction with the effective cooperation being developed with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the recent years.

The UN High Commissioner mentioned that Armenia, being a member of the Conventions on the status of the UN Refugees and reduction of statelessness, continues the implementation of the provisions of those documents. In that regard, he stressed the importance of the ministerial conference that should be organized at the end of this year in Geneva dedicated to the anniversaries of those Conventions and will give an opportunity to the member-states to summarize the works implemented in this sphere, as well as undertake new steps. Antonio Guterres noted that Armenia as a country of European values, is guided by those standards in improving the asylum system in the country, as well.

Afterwards, Mr. Kirakossian briefed on the situation in the region, particularly touched upon Armenia’s relations with the neighboring countries.

At the end of the talk, Antonio Guterres touched upon a number of current issues that are in the center of attention of the UN Office for Refugees.