On May 16, political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Sweden were held in Stockholm. The Armenian delegation was headed by Ara Margarian, the Head of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, and the Swedish delegation was headed by Andreas von Beckerath, Head of the Department of Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the MFA of Sweden.

The sides touched upon a wide range of issues of bilateral agenda, highly appreciated the constructive dialogue between the two countries and emphasized the further development of relations in areas of mutual interest. Both sides highlighted the importance of the activities and role of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) in the implementation of the reform agenda in Armenia.

In the context of establishment of regional stability the sides attached great importance to the EU monitoring mission in Armenia, which was deployed under the Swedish presidency in the Council of the EU. 

They also touched upon Armenia-EU enhanced partnership and exchanged views on EU Eastern Partnership.

Ara Margaryan briefed his counterpart on the recent developments in the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the situation in the region  resulting from the Azerbaijani aggression, as well as the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor.

During his visit, Ara Margarian also met with  Björn Söder, the President of the Sweden-Armenia friendship group of the Swedish Riksdag. 

Ara Margarian has also participated in the discussion organized at the Stockholm Center for East European Studies (SCEEUS) on regional developments.