The RA Embassy in Prague was opened

On November 22, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian who is in Prague on an official visit had a meeting with Karel Schwarzenberg, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

Karel Schwarzenberg welcomed the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs and congratulated on the occasion of the opening of the Armenian Embassy in Prague, underlining that the decision of the Armenian authorities to establish a diplomatic mission would give a new impetus to the Armenian-Czech cooperation.

Expressing gratitude to his Czech counterpart for the warm reception, Minister Nalbandian said, “About three years ago during my visit we stressed the necessity of exerting more efforts for the development of our relations. Today we can mention with satisfaction that our relations have been raised to a qualitatively new level.”

As Minister Nalbandian described, the opening of the Armenian Embassy in Prague is a proof of the Armenian side’s intention to deepen and expand the friendly partnership with the Czech Republic.

The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs added, as well. “It is my pleasure to note that in the recent years a real progress was made in the intensification of political dialogue, conducting of high-level visits and reinforcing of legal framework. During the last three years the President of the Republic of Armenia, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Prague. In 2008 Armenia hosted the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, and the inter-parliamentary ties were intensified.”

The Ministers mentioned with satisfaction that eight bilateral agreements were signed in the recent three years.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Czech Republic had a thorough talk on the regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Edward Nalbandian and Karel Schwarzenberg touched upon the use of a potential of trade-economic cooperation, the steps to be undertaken towards the promotion of investments and the intensification of cultural exchanges.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic highly assessed the reforms being implemented in Armenia.

The Ministers discussed the cooperation between Armenia and the European Union, and the projects being implemented within the Eastern Partnership.

In the context of the intensification of inter-agency partnership, the Ministers agreed to elaborate the project on the consultations between the MFAs of the two countries and to launch cooperation between the Armenian MFA’s Diplomatic School and Diplomatic Academy of the Czech Republic’s MFA.

Edward Nalbandian presented to his Czech counterpart the process of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. It was mutually underlined that the peaceful settlement of the issue has no alternative.

The meeting of the Ministers was followed by a joint press conference.

On the same day, Edward Nalbandian and Karel Schwarzenberg attended the official ceremony of the opening of the RA Embassy in Prague. Ambassadors accredited in Prague, members of the Czech Republic’s Parliament and representatives of the Armenian community attended the ceremony, as well.

In the second half of the day Edward Nalbandian visited the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic where he had a meeting with the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate , Přemysl Sobotka and other Senators representing various political forces of the Senate.

The Czech Senators highly assessed the establishment of the RA Embassy in Prague, expressing hope that the permanent diplomatic representation would be a serious impetus to the further strengthening of the relations.

In the course of the meeting, the sides discussed a number of issues related to the strengthening of bilateral relations and inter-parliamentary cooperation.
Upon the request of the Senators, Edward Nalbandian presented the main directions and priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy.

In the morning of 22 November, Edward Nalbandian addressed an extensive speech on Armenia’s foreign policy in the Czech Association for International Affairs.

At the end of the day, the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs met with the representatives of the Armenian community organizations in the Czech Republic and answered their numerous questions on Armenia’s foreign policy.

In the course of the visit, Edward Nalbandian gave an interview to Lidové Noviny, the leading Czech newspaper.