On August 23, the official visit of the RA NA President Ara Babloyan to the Czech Republic began. The delegation with the RA NA deputies Tatshat Vardapetyan, Armen Rustamyan and Hrachya Hakobyan led by the Head of the RA Parliament, met with the President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Milan Štěch.

During the meeting the RA NA Speaker, thanking for the invitation and warm reception, has noted that Armenia attaches great importance to the stable development of the friendly relations with the Czech Republic: the Czech Republic is one of the most important of Armenia in Europe.

Ara Babloyan emphasized the cooperation of the delegates of the two countries in the international parliamentary structures, noting that the Armenian side expects to further deepen and coordinate that cooperation.

Touching upon the inter-parliamentary relations, Ara Babloyan has welcomed the formation of the new Parliamentary Group in the Czech Parliament, noting that the Friendship Groups has a great role in developing the relations of the two countries’ parliaments.

The Head of the Armenian Parliament expressed his gratitude for the adoption of the Resolution on Recognition and Condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and Other Crimes Committed against Humanity by the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, expressing hope that the Upper Chamber of the parliament, following the example of the Chamber of Deputies, also would recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Regarding the events in Armenia, Ara Babloyan assured that changes had not affected the Armenian-Czech firm relations in any way. The RA NA President noted that the conveying of the power in Armenia had been without shocks as an honour of the two sides. In this context Ara Babloyan called on the international colleagues to continue the support shown to Armenia.

During his talk with Milan Štěch has underlined that Armenia sees the solution of the Karabakh conflict exclusively through peaceful means under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

Welcoming the Armenian parliamentarians, the President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Milan Štěch has underlined that he excellently assesses the visit of the delegation led by him to Armenia in October 2017. Milan Štěch presented the inner-political situation of the Czech Republic, underscoring that despite certain disagreements, and recently the Government of the Czech Republic succeeded to get a vote of trust.

According to the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, the aspiration of Armenia to further deepen with multi-layer relations with the Czech Republic is evident for the Czech side.

Milan Štěch has assured that the inner-political shuffling also occurred in the Czech Republic had not affected on the Armenian-Czech relations of friendly character and there are different spheres, where the Czech Republic can show its support to Armenia. In this context he referred to the possibilities of cooperation in the educational sphere between the two countries, noting that the Czech Republic would host with joy the best students of Armenia for organizing the further education.

The President of the Senate of the Czech Republic has stressed with satisfaction that tangible moves are recorded in the commercial relations between the two countries.

According to Milan Štěch, in political aspect Armenia is in a hard region, therefore the Czech Republic is ready to be with Armenia. The President of the Senate assessed positive the foreign policy being pursued with the international colleagues by Armenia.

The Head of the Armenian Parliament in his turn noted that being an EEU member, Armenia succeeded assuring its European colleagues that the relations could be built not by the principle of ‘or-or,’ but ‘and-and.’

Regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic has stated that the position in that issue is distinct: the problem should be settled in peaceful way – around the negotiation table. According to him, giving arms to any side does not promote the solution of the problem in any way.

At the end of the meeting the sides have documented that Armenia and the Czech Republic know at best the story of any other side, which promotes the further strengthening of the friendly relations between the two countries.