1 / 12

On December 16, the 33^rd sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the RA National Assembly and RF Federal Assembly was held in online format.

Welcoming the participants, the RA NA Vice President Hakob Arshakyan has noted that traditional friendly and warm relations have deep roots between Armenia and Russia. Centuries-old friendship, cultural and spiritual ties, allied and strategic partnership connect us, the NA Vice President noted.

To Hakob Arshakyan’s conviction, at the inter-parliamentary level the Committee is a dynamic platform of dialogue, and successfully replenishes the collaboration within the framework of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee. He expressed conviction that during the meeting it would be possible to discuss in detail the problems, find effective solutions and outline new directions of constructive cooperation.

In the format of the parliamentary partnership Hakob Arshakyan underlined the role of cooperation on the international platforms. “We are pleased with the level of the parliamentarians’ partnership on such international platforms, as the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), the Council of Europe (CoE),” the NA Deputy Speaker also added that the whole potential of cooperation on multilateral platforms had not been realized.

Speaking about the regional problems, Hakob Arshakyan has stressed that now it is a hard period for Armenia. He has touched upon the post-war situation, noting that numerous humanitarian issues have not been solved yet. Despite the obligations assumed by November 9, 2020 trilateral statement, Azerbaijan refuses to return prisoners of war and other held persons. The RA NA Vice President thanked the Russian Federation for showing continuous support in the solution of those problems.

“We are also thankful to the Russian peacekeeping forces for the efforts made in keeping peace and security, as well as safeguarding of the Armenian religious cultural heritage monuments,” Hakob Arshakyan said.

According to the NA Vice President, the development of the integration processes and the strengthening of multilateral partnership fully correspond with the requirements of time and the large-scale problems facing ours states.

Concluding his speech, Hakob Arshakyan wished the participants of the sitting fruitful work.

In his welcoming speech the Deputy Speaker of the RF Federation Council of the Federal Assembly Yury Vorobyov has underlined that Armenia is one of the strategic partners of Russian, the two countries effectively cooperate on the inter-parliamentary different platforms, and the relations dynamically develop in a number of spheres.

In 2022, the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Armenia, as well as the 25^th anniversary of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Aid will turn, which, according to Yury Vorobyov, would give new impetus to bilateral relations.

Touching upon the regional problems, the Deputy Speaker of the RF FC FA has noted that the parliamentarians follow the development of the regional events and has opined that the NK conflict settlement is of important significance.

Within the framework of the agenda items of the sitting, in the context of strengthening of bilateral inter-state dialogue the deputies referred to the further development of the inter-parliamentary relations, their main directions and perspectives. The rapporteurs highly appreciated the current level of the political dialogue. In this context, the fruitful cooperation on the inter-parliamentary platforms, the bilateral humanitarian ties, the inter-party active partnership were underlined. The opportunities of the expansion of the trade-economic ties and the implementation of the youth programmes were highlighted. The expansion of the inter-regional cooperation was related to.

Issues on the perspectives of bilateral humanitarian cooperation, the support of spreading of the Russian language in our country and the Armenian language in Russia were discussed. The Deputy Ministers responsible for spheres of education and science of the two countries presented the steps being taken in this issue. The participants of the discussion raised the issue of the replenishment of the Russian educational manuals and the textbooks. The implementation of the exchange of educational programmes, the inter-higher educational cooperation, the holding of the theatrical festivals was considered necessary.

At the Committee sitting a decision was made to support the installation of the monument dedicated to the Russian-Armenian friendship in the Square of Russia of Yerevan.

An Expertise Council adjunct to the Inter-Parliamentary Committee will be created, which the highly qualified specialists of different spheres will be replenished.

At the end of the sitting the working plan of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee for 2022. The 34^th sitting of the Committee will be held in Armenia next year.

The RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation Vardan Toghanyan, and the RF Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin, the RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Armen Ghevondyan, the RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan also took part in the sitting.