Friday, May 25 2018 16:26

ArmInfo.The head of the Armenia-Slovakia friendship group Eduard Sharmazanov met with the Chairman of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Andrei  Danko, on May 25 in Bratislava.

As the press service of the Parliament reports, the vice-speaker  thanked Danko for assisting in organizing in the Slovak parliament an  exhibition under the motto "Parliamentarians against genocides"  dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the adoption by the UN General  Assembly of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the  Crime of Genocide. He highly appreciated the contribution of Danko  and the parliament to the process of international recognition of the  Armenian Genocide, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and  condemning the atrocity by the National Council of Slovakia in 2004.

Turning to the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation, the  sides singled out the activation of mutual trips, cooperation at the  level of friendship groups, effective interaction on international  platforms on issues of bilateral interest.

Sharmazanov presented the regional and domestic political situation  in Armenia, noting: "In my deep conviction, democratic values should  not have an alternative in Armenia - the country must steadily move  forward through the development of democracy, respecting the  pluralism of opinions."

Touching upon the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the  Vice Speaker of the Parliament confirmed the position of the Armenian  side - to resolve the conflict exclusively by peaceful means, within  the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. He positively  assessed the balanced position of Slovakia in the settlement of the  issue.

"Azerbaijan, distorting the essence of the conflict, tries to present  the Nagorno-Karabakh problem as a territorial dispute, meanwhile it  is a struggle for the realization of the right to self-determination,  freedom and independence of the people." International recognition of  the independence of Artsakh has no alternative," the NA Vice Speaker  said.

Referring to the RA-EU comprehensive and expanded partnership  agreement, Sharmazanov expressed the hope that the Slovak parliament  will ratify the document in a short time.