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On April 29 the RA NA President Hovik Abrahamyan received the delegation of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, which consists of the Chair of the Group Martin Callanan, the Vice-Chair Ryszard Legutko, the member of the ECR Group and the Bureau Valdemar Tomaševski , the Co-Chair of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC) Milan Cabrnoch, Vice Chair of the Euronest PA Ryszard Czarnecki, the MEP Pawel Robert Kowal.

Welcoming the guests the President of the Parliament expressed hope that the visit of such representation of the group will give opportunity to directly get acquainted with the reforms going on in the country, as well as the processes aimed at the RA authorities’ views and the enlargement of Armenia-European Union cooperation on the regional problems. Noting that during the recent years a rather close cooperation had been established between the powers of the European Parliament and Armenia, Hovik Abrahamyan expressed conviction that the visit of the delegation would promote the further development and strengthening of the European Parliament-National Assembly relations. In the NA President’s word, greatly highlighting the processes of European integration, the legislative and executive authorities of Armenia had established close cooperation with the EU and its member countries. Hovik Abrahamyan emphasized the successful procedure of the negotiations over Armenia-EU Association Agreement. Hovik Abrahamyan touched upon the parliamentary and presidential elections held in Armenia, underlining that the international community assessed them as corresponding with European standards.

Thanking for warm reception the Head of the delegation, the Chair of the Group Martin Callanan noted that they became convinced from their meetings in the parliament that there was an atmosphere of plurality in the National Assembly, which was fit for the parliamentary structure. Once again highlighting the EU-RA established close cooperation, he deemed welcoming the progress recorded in Armenia, as well as the aspirations of our country to become a developed serious player. With that respect Martin Callanan greatly emphasized the parliamentary format of the cooperation, underscoring the necessity of the deepening of the dialogue within the framework Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. The Head of the delegation also has deemed significant the establishment of relations at the level of political forces, informing the attendees that their party studies the possibilities of cooperation with the parties in Armenia. The Co-Chair of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Milan Cabrnoch also considered one of the important formats of the international cooperation the parliamentary format. He assured that the relations with Armenia were at the centre of attention of their delegation.

Noting that the political dialogue going on within the framework of parliamentary cooperation framework is greatly highlighted in Armenia, Hovik Abrahamayan has underlined that Armenia also actively takes part in the works of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly with multilateral dimension of the Eastern Partnership.

The NA President touched upon a series of regional issues, particularly presenting the position of the Armenian side in connection with the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem, as well as Armenia-Turkey relations.

The NA President expressed hope that the regional visit of the European Parliament delegation would greatly contribute to the rise of the MEPs' awareness on the problems existing in the region and the establishment of the unbiased position for the benefit of peace and stability during the discussions in the European Parliament.

The sides also touched upon other issues.