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On June 16-18 the delegation of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations led by the Committee Chairman Artak Zakaryan was in Prague on a working visit at the invitation of Karel Schwarzenberg, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament. The Committee members Nikol Pashinyan and Edmon Marukyan were in the delegation.

The Armenian parliamentarians had meetings with Mr Jan Hamáček, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, as well as with Zdeněk Škromach, Vice President of the Senate. The Armenian MPs had working meetings with Karel Schwarzenberg, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament, and with the Committee members, where they discussed a number of problems regarding the parliamentary cooperation. During the meeting with Roman Váňa, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Security, and the Committee members the problems of the current situation in the region, Armenia’s security policy and the problems of the partnership in that direction were discussed. The Armenian delegation also met with the members of the Armenia-Czech Republic Friendship Group led by the Chairman of the Group Robin Bohnisch.

The members of the delegation also met with Hynek Kmoníček, Director of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Office of the President of the Czech Republic,and Karel Borůvka , Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The delegation also visited the Liberty Radio Centre, where the deputies took part in the discussion organized by the Armenian service. The Armenian MPs also took part in the opening ceremony of Jerusalem days in Prague.

During the meetings issues relating to the enlargement and development of parliamentary cooperation and problems regarding the South Caucasus region were discussed.

The Armenian deputies highly assessed the balanced approaches of the Czech side in relation to the Nagorno Karabakh problem, particularly, the Czech colleagues’ conviction that the issue should be settled only through peaceful negotiations by the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs.

The Armenian side has expressed concern in connection with the intensification of Azerbaijan’s bellicose rhetoric and frequent cases of violation of ceasefire regime, noting that in case of resuming war actions, Armenian Armed Forces and the NKR Defense Army are ready to counterattack the enemy.

The Armenian delegation detailed about the current situation of the Armenian-Turkish relations, noting that the 2009 Zurich protocols had been suspended by the Turkish government.

Touching upon the partial blockade of Armenia, the sides agreed that we should not have closed borders in the 21st century.

In the course of the meeting both sides stressed the necessity of the development of Armenia-EU further cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, also taking into consideration the new real facts, particularly, the decision for the accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, which could be rather perspective in terms of economy.

The Czech officials have noted that they attentively follow the process of democracy, human rights and freedoms, the development of the civil society in Armenia, and they can document their positive results. At the same time they welcomed the Armenian side’s resoluteness in continuing the democratic reforms in the country and expressed readiness to share the Czech rich experience of this sphere.

The Head of the delegation Artak Zakaryan conveyed the invitation to visit Armenia from the RA NA President Galust Sahakyan to Jan Hamáček, the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, and it was gladly accepted.