On November 26, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan participated in the 10th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in Portugal and delivered remarks at the UNAOC Ministerial Group of Friends High-Level Meeting within the framework of the Forum.

In his remarks, Vahan Kostanyan expressed gratitude to the host country, Portugal, and to the Secretariat of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) for organizing the forum and for the timely and relevant topics included in the agenda.

The Deputy Minister reiterated Armenia’s readiness to actively contribute to international efforts aimed at countering hate speech, racial and ethnic discrimination and xenophobia.

The Deputy Foreign Minister particularly noted:

“The prevention agenda remains at the core of Armenia's foreign policy. Armenia is the author of the UN Human Rights Council's biennial resolution on the "Prevention of Genocide. On December 12-13 of this year, Armenia, for the fifth time, will host the Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide, which will focus on strengthening the effectiveness of international mechanisms for early warning and early response to the risk of genocide and other atrocity crimes.

The attacks on cultural heritage, along with the destruction and misappropriation of cultural goods that we are witnessing in many regions, including the South Caucasus, remain alarming and are of particular concern to Armenia.”

Touching upon the strengthening of peace and stability in the region, the Deputy Foreign Minister stated that, despite all the challenges, Armenia remains committed to the process of normalizing relations with its neighbors and expects reciprocal constructive steps from them.

The Cascais Declaration was adopted following the results of the meeting.