Meeting with President of Greece

On June 27, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who was in Athens on a working visit, met with President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the Press Office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Katerina Sakellaropoulou emphasized that this year marks the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia and Greece. They noted that the interstate ties are based on the traditional friendship between the nations. The relations are at a high level and are characterized by dynamically developing multifaceted cooperation. In this context, both sides underlined the importance of intensifying current official contacts and reciprocal visits to enrich the partnership between the nations further.

Ararat Mirzoyan briefed the President of Greece on the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the position of the Armenian side on the processes aimed at establishing regional peace. He stressed the importance of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in promoting the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Ararat Mirzoyan thanked for the support provided by Greece to the Armenian people during the 44-day war, especially the humanitarian aid.

Meeting with Foreign Minister of Greece

On the same day, Ararat Mirzoyan met with the Foreign Minister of Greece, Nikos Dendias.

The Foreign Ministers commended the intensity of the political dialogue and cooperation between Armenia and Greece, expressing readiness to deepen the existing collaboration. The sides discussed the prospects of developing bilateral relations in several strategic directions.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Nikos Dendias exchanged views on the prospects of further expansion of cooperation in trade and economy, high technologies, military, culture, science, tourism, and other directions. The parties especially emphasized the implementation of targeted works towards deepening cooperation in the spheres of economy, innovations, promotion of mutual investments, and activation of business-to-business contacts.

They discussed the prospects of promoting cooperation in the field of regional transport infrastructures, in particular, the works carried out in establishing the "Persian Gulf-Black Sea international transport corridor." The sides underscored the political will to undertake concrete steps towards completing the process.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Greece also touched upon a number of issues related to the Armenia-EU partnership and the programs within the Eastern Partnership.

The Armenian side highly appreciated the Greek support in recognizing the Armenian Genocide, emphasizing that Armenia continues its consistent efforts towards promoting the international agenda of prevention of genocides.

During the meeting, they touched upon issues of regional security and stability. Minister Ararat Mirzoyan briefed his counterpart on the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the position of the Armenian side on the processes aimed at establishing regional peace and stability, and the normalization of the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the key role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in promoting the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and highly appreciated the position of Greece in support of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the mandate of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

Touching upon the humanitarian issues resulting from the “Azerbaijani aggression against [the] Nagorno-Karabakh," Minister Mirzoyan expressed gratitude to the Government of Greece for providing humanitarian aid.

The Foreign Minister said their side considers unacceptable the provocative rhetoric and actions of the Azerbaijani authorities towards Armenia and [separatist] Nagorno-Karabakh, emphasizing that Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian prisoners of war and civilians as hostages in gross violation of the norms of international humanitarian law.

They emphasized the prevention of “Azerbaijan’s consistent policy of destroying and distorting the identity of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the territories fallen under the control of Azerbaijan” as a result of the 44-day war. Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the urgency of the involvement of relevant international organizations in Nagorno-Karabakh, especially the unimpeded implementation of the UNESCO fact-finding mission.

During the meeting, they also referred to the latest developments in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

At the end of the meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Greece participated in the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on European Union Issues between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

Meeting with Prime Minister of Greece

On June 27, the Foreign Minister of Armenia held a meeting with Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

They touched upon the current level of trade and economic relations between Armenia and Greece, the prospects of further expansion of economic ties, including through the utilization of the opportunities of a wide legal field, the works of the Armenian-Greek intergovernmental commission, and the activation of business-to-business contacts.

They have also discussed cooperation within the framework of the Armenia-Greece-Cyprus trilateral format. 

The Foreign Minister of Armenia briefed the interlocutor on the current developments in the South Caucasus. The sides exchanged views on the issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the process of normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the unblocking of regional economic communication and transport infrastructure, and the work of the commissions on delimitation and border security.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia highly appreciated the support of the Greek government during the 44-day war - a challenging period for Armenia - and its assistance in overcoming the resulting humanitarian issues. 

Minister Ararat Mirzoyan also briefed the Prime Minister of Greece on the developments in the Armenia-Turkey normalization process.

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