On October 1, 2009, President of the National Assembly Mr. Hovik Abrahamyan, received the President of the Belgian Senate Mr. Armand De Decker, who was in Armenia on an official visit.

Welcoming the guest, Mr. Abrahamyan expressed confidence that the visit of the Belgian Senate President will contribute to the development of bilateral cooperation. He expressed his content for the productivity of Armenian- Belgian ties, stressed the significance of intensifying bilateral relations, in particular in the trade and inter-parliamentary cooperation areas.

The interlocutors agreed that it is necessary for the MPs’ contacts of the both Parliaments to become recurrent, thus strengthening the political dialogue.

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia thanked the Belgian Senate President for adopting a resolution, recognizing Armenian Genocide, by the Higher Chamber of the Belgian Senate on March 16, 1998. The interlocutors shared the opinion that due to the courageous and initiative foreign policy of Armenia today the provision of the resolution on urging Turkey to open the borders without any preconditions and establishing diplomatic relations will come true.

The sides also discussed regional and international security issues during the meeting. At a request of the guest Mr. Abrahamyan presented Armenia's positions on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well as relations with neighboring countries. The interlocutors also touched upon the world financial-economic crisis and its impact on the economies of the two countries.