Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan held a press conference within the framework of his visit to Hungary.
“I am very happy to be here and thank you very much for the warm welcome and invitation. This visit follows your visit to Yerevan last fall and is really the result of a journey we took together a year and a half ago. A path that was meant to overcome the existing challenges and start the Armenian-Hungarian relations anew. relations based on historical warm mutual sympathy, relations based on common values. And I am really glad to see the results of this process already. As I mentioned, we had agreed to open diplomatic missions in Budapest and Yerevan capitals. Today we are talking about already resident embassies.
Today, we jointly signed a document on political consultations between the foreign political departments of the two countries, as well as a document on economic cooperation. a document that envisages the creation of an intergovernmental commission. We also recently had a general economic conference, where our business representatives also had the opportunity to discuss possible new cooperation.
Of course, we cannot fail to emphasize the mutual visits of people and direct contacts between people, and in this regard, of course, I share the importance you reported about the direct flights established by “WizzAir” between Yerevan and Budapest. I am sure that this flight will attract a lot of interest from both Armenian and Hungarian tourists.
Of course, economic cooperation is extremely important in our relations, and in international relations in general. And I want to inform you once again and talk to the public once again about Armenia’s understanding of the importance of international economic programs and the desire to be a part of these international economic programs. I want to talk about the “Crossroads of Peace” Armenian initiative. This is an initiative that plans to unblock all transport and not only transport hubs, connections, infrastructures in our region, the South Caucasus, which will make it possible to facilitate passenger transportation, cargo transportation and transportation of services from East to West, including the territory of Armenia. In the same context, we are also considering the issue of renewable energy supply by Armenia to EU member states. There are specific initiatives and programs in this regard, which are still under discussion or will soon be implemented. And Armenia, of course, wants to be a part of all these initiatives.
I also want to say that there is a second factor that is extremely important for economic prosperity and interaction. that is peace. And I want to use this opportunity once again to reaffirm RA’s commitment to the establishment of long-term stable peace in the South Caucasus. We are constructively involved in the negotiations, the purpose of which is to finally settle the relations with the neighbors, in particular with Azerbaijan, to put an end to the long-standing conflict. There are a number of principles on mutual recognition of territorial integrity and demarcation, Alma-Ata, back in 1991. on the basis of the signed document and the principles recorded in it. I have already mentioned the unblocking of infrastructure structures, and I hope we will shortly be able to record very concrete results here as well.
Of course, these issues that I have listed, in addition to bilateral and regional formats, are also part of the Armenia-European Union agenda. You know, I’m sure, that we are in a process through which the Republic of Armenia is significantly and significantly closer to the European Union and the European Union to the Republic of Armenia. And a new package of initiatives is currently on our agenda, on our bilateral table, and we will greatly hope and rely on the upcoming Hungarian presidency in the EU Council. We are sure that the issues and planned programs will move forward with tangible steps also during your presidency.
Thank you again for the invitation, thank you for the warm welcome. I am sure that this visit, as well as your previous visit to Yerevan, actually allowed us to take another tangible step forward in the development of our relations,” he said.
