YEREVAN. – The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Wednesday received the delegation led by the Vice President of the German Bundestag, Johannes Singhammer.
The delegation also included the representatives of the Cardinal Höffner Union.
At the outset of the meeting, the Armenian President first congratulated the guests on the Day of German Unity, wishing peace and prosperity to friendly Germany.
President Sargsyan underscored the importance of high-level mutual visits in terms of deepening the Armenian-German bilateral ties. The President was also pleased to recall his visit to Germany in April, in the framework of which he had meetings with the country’s supreme leadership.
Sargsyan expressed hope that the visit of the delegation led by Mr Singhammer to the first Christian country will be productive and full of unforgettable impressions, which will give more persistence to the efforts aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties.
Agreeing that the relations between Armenia and Germany are based on mutual respect and trust, the interlocutors attached significant importance to the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation in strengthening and deepening those ties. The PM expressed satisfaction wit the fact that the Bundestag deputies have recently visited not only Armenia, but also the Nagorno-Karabakh in order to get familiarized with the Karabakh issue on the ground.
Sargsyan also highly appreciated Germany’s stance on the Armenian Genocide condemnation, which was expressed in the Genocide recognition and condemnation resolution adopted by the country’s supreme legislative body.
Reference was also made to Armenia-EU cooperation. Sargsyan stressed that the Armenian-German cooperation is important for Armenia also in the context of relations with the EU, considering the weighty role of Germany in the EU institutions. He thus thanked Germany for its support to Armenia in the framework of the Eastern Partnership.
The interlocutors attached importance to the educational and scientific, as well as cultural cooperation, which has a special role in interstate relations.
Apart from this, the President highly appreciated the years-long financial and technical support provided by Germany for the social and economic development of Armenia.
For his part, Bundestag Vice President Johannes Singhammer thanked the President for the reception and noted that Germany and Armenia share the same values despite not having a common border. In his words, a special feeling links the Germans with the first Armenian state. Singhammer also added that the Armenian Genocide resolution, which stated the historic truth, is aimed at peace, since the truth, according to him, is an important pre-condition for achieving peace.
At the meeting, the interlocutors also touched on the pressing international issues and challenges threatening peace.
Bundestag deputy Christian Haase handed one of the 29 bronze doves cast in 2008, pursuant to the UN human rights provisions. The dove is handed to those political and state figures, who struggle for peace and especially religious freedoms.