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On July 31, the President of the RA National Assembly Ara Babloyan met with the President of the Republic of Italy Sergio Mattarella, who had arrived in Yerevan on an official visit. The meeting was held in an expanded format.

Welcoming the guests in the RA National Assembly, the Head of the Parliament expressed hope that Sergio Mattarella’s visit would give new impetus to the Armenian-Italian centuries-old relations.

The President of the National Assembly touched upon the development of the bilateral parliamentary diplomacy and the boosting of the Friendship Groups’ activities, as well as the necessity of effectively cooperating on the inter-parliamentary platforms. In this context Ara Babloyan has underlined that having parliamentary government system of the two countries gives great opportunities of cooperation. According to the Head of the legislative body, the study of the effective experience of Italy’s parliamentary government can be useful for Armenia.

Talking about Armenia-European Union Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, the Head of the Parliament expressed hope that the Senate of Italy would ratify the document within the possibly shortest term which would be an additional impetus for further deepening of bilateral ties.

Ara Babloyan has stressed that the Armenian community of Italy and historical-cultural, civilized and democratic common values unite the two countries, and the relations get further strengthened and warmed up.

Touching upon the peaceful settlement process of Nagorno Karabakh problem, the President of the National Assembly highly assessed the balanced position of the Republic of Italy in this issue.

The Head of Parliament assured that irrespective of the fact what political changes would be in Armenia, the Armenian-Italian relations would continue to develop and deepen.

Thanking for the warm reception, the President of the Republic of Italy Sergio Mattarella expressed readiness to boost the centuries-old friendly relations and cooperation between Italy and Armenia. Sergio Mattarella emphasized the activation of the cooperation on the inter-parliamentary platforms, the joint work of the Parliamentary Friendship Groups, as well as the mutually beneficial cooperation in different spheres. In this context the President of Italy noted that they would support the ratification of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement which, according to him, would promote the further rapprochement of Armenia-EU relations.

At the end of the meeting Sergio Mattarella left a note in the Book of Honourable Guests of the RA National Assembly.