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On July 20, the Head of the NA Delegation to PACE, the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Ruben Rubinyan, the Chair of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, the Head of the NA Armenia-France Friendship Group Vladimir Vardanyan, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Andranik Kocharyan and the Chair of the Standing Committee on European Integration Arman Yeghoyan met with theFrench Member of European Parliament (EP), the Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Nathalie Loiseau.

Welcoming the guest, the Armenian parliamentarians thanked the French friends for permanently supporting Armenia in different initiatives.

During the meeting the NA deputies presented the situation in the region, assessing it tense. “In recent months we witness extreme aggressive statements and actions sounding by the leadership of Azerbaijan. Particularly, the President of Azerbaijan has already several times publicly made statements with aspirations towards the RA territories,” Ruben Rubinyan underlined. It was noted that a few days ago the Azerbaijanis began opening fire to the direction of Nakhijevan towards the Armenian military units, because of which we have one victim and one injured.

In this context the pressure of the international community on Azerbaijan was emphasized to avoid the further developments.

Nathalie Loiseau expressed concern over the existing escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the return of all Armenian prisoners of war, as well as the issue of protection of Artsakh historical-cultural heritage passed under the Azerbaijani control.

“Today every French, even the little French kid knows what is the Armenian Genocide. Every French knows how much the Armenian nation has suffered before and mourns today’s losses. France has a unique role in Europe: that is, to introduce to the European colleagues the real challenges that Armenia faces today,” Loiseau stated.

At the meeting issues of bilateral interest were also discussed. Touching upon the reforms being made in different spheres in Armenia, the Armenian parliamentarians highlighted their European colleagues’ support. It was noted that the full implementation of the reforms would be possible only in the event of ensuring stability in the region.