1 / 8

On the morning of March 22 the delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus led by the Vice Speaker Valery Ivanov arrived in Yerevan to take part in the works of the fourth sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus.

Before beginning the works of the sitting the Belarusian parliamentarians laid down flowers at the monument perpetuating the memory of October 27 crime victims in the Park of the National Assembly.

Afterwards the fourth sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus was held.

The Committee Chairman of RA NA Standing Committee on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs, the Co-Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Hrayr Karapetyan welcomed in the opening speech the visit of the Belarus partners of the inter-parliamentary committee to the Armenian parliament and once again highlighted the committee’s role in strengthening the inter-parliamentary dialogue. Highly assessing the Armenian-Belarusian relations he emphasized the cooperation in international structures, where Armenia and Belarus permanently support each other. Mr. Karapetyan noted with satisfaction that the visits of the inter-governmental commissions and inter-parliamentary committees have become traditional. In this context it was mentioned that in the nearest future the visit of RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan to Belarus, which, according to Hrayr Karapetyan, will be an impetus for more strengthening the cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries. Hrayr Karapetyan also touched upon the joint programmes, which were implemented in the spheres of culture, science and education.

The Co-Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus and the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Valery Ivanov in his opening speech emphasized the deepening of relations between the parliaments of two friendly peoples. The sides highly assessed the effective work of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation, which, according to Mr. Ivanov’s assessment, can greatly promote the development of the legal-contractual base, the deepening of inter-regional cooperation. They evaluated the cooperation in international structures, in the spheres of economy, science, energy and agriculture.

The member of RA Inter-parliamentary Committee, the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Artak Davtyan in his report relating to the trade-economic, scientific-technical and cultural relations between Armenia and Belarus touched upon the cooperation created between the libraries, museums of Armenia and Belarus, in the exhibitions organized in the two countries. In his conviction the Armenian-Belarusian cooperation has considerable opportunities to develop in political, trade-economic, scientific-technical and humanitarian spheres.

The member of the Standing Committee on International Relations and National Security of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of RA Inter-parliamentary Committee Mikhail Krishtapovich underlined that one of the priorities of the Armenian-Belarus cooperation is the development of the economic relations between the two countries and expansion of the goods turnover. Mr. Krishtapovich highlighted the continuity of cooperation created in the spheres of machinery, light industry, pharmacy.

The agenda next issue of the fourth sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus referred to the conduct of the next fifth sitting and the discussion of the problems concerning the working plan. It was decided to hold the next sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee. Mr. Hrayr Karapetyan proposed to discuss issues relating to the development and deepening of the inter-regional cooperation in the next sitting.

At the end of the fourth sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee the issues presented in the final document were discussed.

The works of the fourth sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation between the National Assembly were summed up by the joint press conference of the Co-Chairmen Valery Ivanov and Hrayr Karapetyan.

Hrayr Karapetyan presented details of the works of the joint sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee to the journalists and noted that issues concerning the spheres of culture, science, energy and agriculture. Mr. Karapetyan said that they had a working meeting with the NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, where they discussed details connected with the RA NA Speaker’s visit to Belarus. Then the Co-Chairman added that once in half a year such sittings will be held consecutively in Yerevan and in Minsk, which will more promote the deepening of parliamentary cooperation.

Highly assessing the Armenian-Belarusian relations Valery Ivanov emphasized the inter-parliamentary cooperation and the exchange of legislative experience between the two countries. In the context of bilateral economic cooperation the Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee also emphasized the activation of inter-regional cooperation. Valery Ivanov highlighted the creation of the new business relations between two countries and the further cooperation trade-economic and agricultural spheres.

After the press conference the Belarusian deputies had meetings in the parliament.

The Chairperson of the European Integration of the National Assembly Naira Zohrabyan received the delegation led by the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Valery Ivanov.

Welcoming the Belarusian parliamentarians Mrs. Zohrabyan presented the interest of Armenia in strengthening the friendly relations with Belarus and expanding the cooperation. He in particular touched upon the issue of activating the contacts with the Belarusian colleagues within the activity of the committee and supporting each other in inter-parliamentary organizations. Mrs. Zohrabyan. Citing the fundamental principles of the Paris Declaration emphasized the equal presentation and participation of the Eastern Partnership in the Parliamentary format, Euronest. He noted that any issue would more effectively solve inside one European united family and preventive measures cannot promote the settlement of the problems, which proposes the Eastern Partnership.

On this occasion he expressed willingness to support the Belarusian parliamentarians by the committee.

In the course of the meeting the interlocutors also touched upon the democratization and electoral processes, the role of the media and other issues.

The Belarusian parliamentarians thanked Mrs. Zohrabyan for support, stressing the circumstance of having Armenia as reliable partner.

Mrs. Zohrabyan conveyed the guests the best wishes of the Prosperous Armenia Party, which she represents, and the head of the party.

The members of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of Cooperation of Belarus also met the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Rustamyan and the Head of RA Parliamentary delegation in Euronest Vahan Hovhannisyan.

During the meeting the sides discussed issues concerning the strengthening of the inter-parliamentary relations, cooperation of the parliaments between two countries in European parliamentary organizations, participation in the works of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Eastern Partnership to be held in the nearest future and strengthening relations between EU and six partners.

During the meeting the sides discussed other issues of bilateral interest.