On December 19 Mr. Tigran Torosyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, received Mrs. Marina Dolgopolova, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to Armenia.

Mrs. Dolgopolova conveyed to the NA President the joint invitation of the presidents of the two chambers of the Belarusian parliament – to be in Minsk on an official visit in 2008. The Ambassador, who had been in office in Armenia since 2003, highly assessed the reforms and the great volume of legislative works in Armenia that was carrying out and is carrying out the National Assembly, especially after the constitutional amendments in 2005 in the context of complying the Basic Law with the legislation. She stressed that the budget of 2008 in the aspect of solving the social problems already creates bases for turning from the poverty reduction to the establishment of welfare. Within that framework Mrs. Dolgopolova stressed the role of the ruling Republican Party, noting that it assumed the responsibility of the fulfillment of the reforms and carries out successfully its programmes. The Ambassador also highly evaluated the inter-parliamentary relations that are displayed with bilateral ties and cooperation in international structures.

The President of the National Assembly Mr. Tigran Torosyan thanked for the invitation and expressed willingness to visit Belarus after presidential elections. The NA President ensured the high level of the Armenian-Belarusian inter-parliamentary relations and expressed confidence that the visit will be effective and will contribute to the development of the relations. Mr. Torosyan asked the Ambassador to convey his gratitude and New Year congratulations and best wishes to the speakers of the Belarusian parliament and the people.