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On September 18 the RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan received the Vice-President of the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group John Whittingdale and Stephen Pound. The Ambassador of Great Britain to the RA Jonathan Aves and the Head of the NA Armenia-Great Britain Friendship Group Karen Chshmaritian attended the meeting.

Welcoming the guests the NA President noted that Armenia greatly highlights the further development of relations with the United Kingdom in different directions. Hovik Abrahamyan highlighted the necessity of activation of inter-parliamentary cooperation not only with bilateral, but also multilateral formats. Highly assessing the activity of the British-Armenian Group of the parliament of the United Kingdom in the development of inter-parliamentary relations of the two countries he expressed conviction that the parliamentary diplomacy is one of the important levers for advancing the political dialogue between the countries. The NA President expressed confidence that the British MPs’ visit would boost the relations between the parliaments of the two countries and the activity of the parliamentary friendship groups. He deemed necessary the implementation of the concrete programmes in different spheres.

The NA President introduced the regional developments to the guests. Hovik Abrahamyan touched upon the process of the NK conflict settlement, the Armenian-Turkish relations, highlighting the necessity of forming an objective opinion on them abroad and in international structures. In this context he highly assessed the British parliamentarians’ visit to Artsakh. Touching upon the decision of Armenia’s joining to the Customs Union, the NA President noted that it stems from the interests of our country and added that the decision does not mean at all suspension or weakening of political dialogue with the European Union. “The European Union has been and continues to remain one of the most important counterparts of the Republic of Armenia,” Hovik Abrahamyan noted.

Thanking for reception the Vice-President of the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group John Whittingdale reaffirmed their readiness to promote the activation and development of bilateral inter-parliamentary relations and deepening of inner-state relations. In his word, Great Britain highlights the role of Armenia in the region, and Europe, particularly the United Kingdom are concerned of developing and deepening the relations with Armenia. By the British MPs’ conviction, the basis of Armenia-EU relations is well laid. They expressed conviction that from now on those relations will develop and deepen, noting that during the recent years considerable progress had been registered in Armenia.