On 19 September Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan announced the opening of Armenian embassies in Israel and Ethiopia.

In regard to Israel, Mnatsakanyan noted that the country is an important geo-political role-maker and that the country’s policies directly influences regional stability in the Middle East. “The key purpose of opening embassy in Israel is to ensure Armenia’s participation in protection of rich historic-cultural heritage on the state level and protect its right to be the equal holder of saint vicinities of the Armenian Apostolic Church,” he said, adding that the creation of the embassy will also contribute to the enhancement of bilateral relations, create new opportunities for cooperation and development of a number of sectors to increase Armenia’s presence in the Middle East.

Armenia established bilateral relations with Israel in 1991. So far, Israel and Armenia have diplomatic relations with non-residential ambassadors, little trade and no encounters in the security military field. Two main foreign policy obstacles between the two countries are: Israel’s weapons sales to Azerbaijan and Israel’s refusal to define what happened to the Armenian people as genocide. Embassies are planned to open in Tel Aviv and Yerevan as well as direct flights between the two cities.

Mnatsaknyan stated that the opening of the Armenian embassy in Ethiopia will expand Armenia’s possibilities to cooperate in the economic field with all African countries and the African Union, which is based in Addis Ababa. “Ethiopia is currently a rapidly growing state… [and] is [rising] in international relations. Addis Ababa is one of the main political centers of the African continent, with the headquarters of the African Union, and all African states are members of the African Union without exception,” he said.

Armenia and Ethiopia established bilateral relations in 1993. Mnatsakanyan already visited Ethiopia on 4 April 2019 where he met with the Armenian community in Addis Ababa and had an interview with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation. In the interview, Mnatsaknyan underlined the priority fields of cooperation between Armenia and Ethiopia, namely: strengthening and advancing political dialogue; intensifying dialogue between the parliaments and governments; cooperation in the IT sector and cooperation in the creative education sectors.

The building of new Armenian embassies is in line with the country’s main foreign policy goals, which were laid out by Mnatsakanyan on 27 August 2019 (Caucasus Watch reported).