1 / 9

On November 1, the President of the RA National Assembly Galust Sahakyan received the delegation led by the President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Belgium Christine Defraigne.

Welcoming the President of the Senate of the friendly Belgium in the Armenian Parliament, Galust Sahakyan highlighted the cooperation between the legislative bodies of Armenia and Belgium and the development of the dialogue and expressed conviction that Mrs Defraigne’s visit would give a new impetus for the further deepening of the Armenian-Belgian inter-parliamentary relations. In this context Mr Sahakyan especially emphasized the activities of the Parliamentary Friendship Groups.

Regarding the relations between the two countries the RA NA President has noted that there is a great potential of development, but the mutually beneficial cooperation is still not visible in all spheres.

Condemning the severe terrorist act committed in Brussels in March 2016, the Head of the Parliament said: “Sharing the same system of values of freedom and human rights and denying any manifestation of terrorism we strictly denounce any terrorist act and we shall always stand at our friends’ side.”

Touching upon the issue of the Armenian Genocide, Galust Sahakyan thanked his colleague on the occasion of the adopted Resolution on the Armenian Genocide Centennial by the House of Representatives of Belgium in July 2015 and expressed hope that due to Christine Defraigne’s efforts the Belgian Parliament will adopt a bill on criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide, as in our days also, painfully, the danger of repetition of genocides remains hung on the head of mankind.

Talking about the Nagorno Karabakh (NK) conflict settlement process, the Head of the Parliament has reaffirmed that Armenia sees the solution of the problem exclusively through peaceful means under the auspice of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. He has noted that it is the only format of the NK conflict settlement, which has sufficient potential for finding ways of settlement. In this context Galust Sahakyan noted: “The April aggression by Azerbaijan has caused serious damage to the process of negotiations. It is necessary to undertake means for restoring the mutual trust in the peaceful settlement of the problem, which will prevent the new use of force and will create favourable conditions for advancing peaceful negotiations.”

The Head of the Parliament has underlined with satisfaction the fact that during one year four Belgian parliamentary delegations visited Armenia, combining them with the visit to Nagorno Karabakh. Those visits, by Galust Sahakyan’s assessment, are important in terms of the process of the Nagorno Karabakh problem solution, getting comprehensively informed about the pre-history of the conflict, and sharing that information and the received impressions with their colleagues.

Thanking for the warm reception, the President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Belgium Christine Defraigne highlighted the exchange of experience between the parliamentarians of the two countries. Referring to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Christine Defraigne reminded that Belgium was one of the first countries among the European countries that in 1998 adopted a Resolution condemning and recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Speaking about the adoption of the Armenian Genocide recognition by the House of Representatives of Belgium in July 2015 she has said that it is only a step on the way of recognition of Genocide and has added that it will be complete by the adoption of the law condemning the denial of the Armenian Genocide. He has expressed hope that due to continuous work the abovementioned law will be called into life. In this context Christine Defraigne said: “We should adopt the law condemning the denial in order not to let the Armenian Genocide.”

Referring to the problem of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Mrs Defraigne has highly assessed the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ activities and has noted that Belgium sees the solution through peaceful negotiations and is ready to have its contribution to that issue.

In the course of the meeting the interlocutors expressed conviction that they will do their utmost for rapprochement and expansion of the cooperation between Armenia and Belgium.

Christine Defraigne left a note in the Book of the RA NA honourable Guests.

At the end of the meeting the RA NA President Galust Sahakyan awarded the President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Belgium Christine Defraigne the Medal of Honour of the RA National Assembly for her activities in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and contribution made in strengthening the inter-parliamentary friendship ties.

Afterwards in the Alley of Memory, at the Parliament Park they planted an evergreen fir tree symbolizing the Armenian-Belgian friendship.