RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who was in Vienna on a working visit on July 18, made a statement after meeting with Austrian Federal Minister of European and Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg.

"First of all, I would like to thank my colleague Mr. Schallenberg for the invitation to visit Vienna and the warm welcome. The contacts between the two countries, between me and my colleague, my dear friend, are quite intense, and even today we have had fruitful discussions on many issues of mutual interest.

With great satisfaction, we recorded the high level of political dialogue between Armenia and Austria; we referred to the issues of bilateral cooperation that have been dynamically developing in recent years: economic, commercial, business ties, scientific and educational, cultural, people-to-people contacts, and other fields. In that direction, we have mentioned the role and tasks of the Armenian-Austrian trade-economic and scientific-technical joint commission, and the prospects of effectively realizing the existing great potential.

Mr. Minister, I am happy to emphasize the significant growth of bilateral trade and economic turnover in the first half of this year. In this context, I would like to refer to the Armenian-Austrian business forum held in Yerevan last year during your visit.

I particularly emphasize Austria's commitment to support Armenia's sustainable development efforts. During your visit in 2022, the opening of the Austrian ADA coordinating office in Yerevan was undoubtedly a stimulus in developing our relations.

Today we also exchanged ideas on various international platforms, including the UN, OSCE, on our interaction. The agenda of our meeting included a wide range of issues related to the Armenia-EU partnership.

During the meeting, we also discussed the significance of the EU's continuous support for democratic reforms in Armenia and the development of institutional capacities. We have attached special importance to the activities of the EU civilian monitoring mission operating in Armenia since February of this year, which has its important contribution to reducing tension and preventing escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani interstate border. I expressed gratitude to my colleague and the Austrian government for the participation of Austrian observers in the mission.

I should mention that we also discussed the possibilities of RA-EU cooperation in the security field, taking into account the inaugural session of the RA-EU dialogue on security and political issues held in January of this year.

Dear attendees, the core of our discussion today was also the developments related to regional security and stability. I presented to my colleague the security situation in the South Caucasus, Armenia's vision of establishing peace, the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the efforts made by Armenia and the international community to achieve the result.

We are sure, and I believe that Armenia is not alone in this matter, that stable peace in the region is possible only in case of proper addressing of the rights and security issues of the people of Nagorno Karabakh under the international mechanism through the Stepanakert-Baku dialogue. In this context, it is painful to record that at the moment, instead of that dialogue, Azerbaijan is conducting a policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, the open manifestation of which is the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been ongoing for more than seven months. Nagorno-Karabakh is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster. This is happening in violation of international humanitarian norms and despite many appeals, resolutions of international actors, and the legally binding decision of the International Court of Justice of February 22, which, by the way, the Court reaffirmed in its decision of July 6.

In the negotiation process with Azerbaijan, the question of ensuring maximum certainty regarding the interstate border is key. In this context, it should be emphasized that according to the Alma-Ata declaration, the borders of the former Soviet republics were recognized as the interstate border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia is also interested in unblocking the regional economic and transport infrastructures, which should be based on the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries and according to the principles of equality and reciprocity.

Of course, to reach solutions to the issues mentioned above, the general atmosphere is essential, which can be facilitated by refraining from the use of force or the threat of force, continuous enmity, aggressive rhetoric, as well as the resolution of urgent humanitarian issues, in particular the release of all Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan.

In conclusion, I would like to mention that in the issues mentioned above, and as a matter of primary urgency, regarding the removal of the blockage of the Lachin Corridor, Armenia expects the active steps of international actors, and especially the members of the UN Security Council.

Mr. Minister, dear friend, thank you once again I thank you for the warm welcome and meaningful conversation. I am very interested in actively continuing this dialogue."