On October 26 Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian received Senator Jean-Claude Gaudin, the Mayor of Marseille. The Delegation also included Roland Blum, the First Deputy Mayor of Marseille, Dominique Vlasto, the Deputy Mayor and Member of the European Parliament, Deputy Mayors Marie Louise Lota and Didier Parakian, the Head of 13-14th Municipality of Marseille Karo Hovsepyan and some other high-ranking officials of Marseille City Hall.

Greeting the guest Edward Nalbandian noted that Armenia always had a special attitude towards France and French people which is determined by the firm friendly ties historically established between our countries and by the existing close inter-state cooperation.

The Minister stressed the importance of developing multidimensional partnership between Armenia and France highlighting the serious achievements in the areas of political, economic, cultural, educational and decentralized collaboration.

The sides also touched upon the results of the Third Summit of Armenian-French decentralized cooperation which took place in Valance ten days ago and stated the periodical holding of such events gives a new impetus to the bilateral relations.

The sides also underlined the important contribution of the Armenian community in developing inter-state relations. In this respect Jean-Claude Gaudin emphasized the role of French-Armenians in the development of Marseille.

Edward Nalbandian and Jean-Claude Gaudin expressed confidence about the active cooperation between Yerevan and Marseille stressing that the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia in Marseille has a great contribution in expanding collaboration and deepening ties in different areas.