Today, the President of the Republic, Vahagn Khachaturyan, received the delegation headed by Marián Kéry, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Council of Slovakia.

Greeting the guests, President Khachaturyan noted that Slovakia is one of Armenia's essential partners in Europe, and our country is ready to expand cooperation with that country in all areas of mutual interest on bilateral and international platforms.

"Since gaining independence, we have always felt the support of Slovakia. This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, and it is an excellent opportunity to think about further expanding our cooperation.

I want to thank you for your position on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. The statements that your parliament has passed have supported us, and we hope they will continue in the future.

You have also done a great job deciding for the EU Council to deploy a long-term civilian observation mission in Armenia. Slovakia was one of the six countries that took the initiative and addressed the issue to the EU High Representative."

Thanking for the reception, Marián Kéry said: "Our visit has two main goals. The first is the occasion of the 30-year cooperation between Armenia and Slovakia. Secondly, we want to express our support to the part of the Armenian people, which is now in the zone of influence of the Karabakh crisis.

We visited the Genocide Memorial and Museum yesterday and are very proud that our National Assembly condemned and recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2004.

In 2020, the 44-day war took place when Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno-Karabakh and reached the borders of Armenia. That is why in 2020-2021, In our National Assembly, we adopted a resolution condemning those steps taken by Azerbaijan."

During the meeting, Marian Carey said in her speech that she is well aware of the events surrounding the blockade of the Lachine humanitarian corridor and stressed the need to restore the regular operation of the humanitarian corridor.

Referring to the regional realities, President Vahagn Khachaturyan emphasized that despite the existing problems, the goal of the Armenian authorities is to achieve lasting and stable peace in the South Caucasus. The President of the Republic emphasized that Armenia is committed to establishing neighborly relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, opening borders without preconditions and unblocking communication channels.

During the conversation, the efforts aimed at promoting inter-parliamentary diplomacy, as well as the organization of mutual visits of the highest political level, were emphasized on both sides.