Monday, September 24 2018 19:06

ArmInfo.Armenian  Ambassador to Latvia Tigran Mkrtchyan (Vilnjus residence) held a  number of meetings with representatives of the executive and  legislative branches.

The press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told ArmInfo that  Mkrtchyan thanked the Latvian Foreign Ministry for the assistance in  ratifying the Armenia-EU comprehensive and expanded partnership  agreement with the country's parliament at a meeting with the State  Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andris Pelsh. In turn,  Pelsh promised to make every effort to develop and deepen relations  between the two countries.

Touching upon the need to stimulate economic relations, Mkrtchyan  stressed the importance of holding a meeting of the Armenian-Latvian  intergovernmental commission in the first half of 2019, adding that  all arrangements and preparatory work have already been completed. In  this context, the parties also touched upon the need to open regular  flights from Riga to Yerevan by Air Baltic, which could contribute to  a good basis for stimulating tourism and increasing trade between the  two countries. Pelsh promised to keep the discussed issues at the  center of attention and to promote their solution.

The sides discussed topical issues of the international and regional  agenda, touched upon the internal political processes in Armenia and  Latvia.

Mkrtchyan also met with the head of the directorate of bilateral  relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Ilgvars  Klyava. The latter presented the Armenian ambassador with preparatory  work for the parliamentary elections in the country, scheduled for  October 6. In his turn, Mkrtchyan touched upon the elections to the  Council of Elders of Yerevan, as well as changes implemented by the  new government. The sides stressed the importance of the permanent  holding of bilateral inter-MFA consultations, as well as the  possibility of organizing high-level mutual visits in the foreseeable  future.

At the meetings in the Foreign Ministry of Latvia, Mkrtchyan also  raised the issue of provocations carried out in the last period by  Azerbaijan on the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border, stating that in  a number of directions the enemy VS made peaceful civilians of border  villages targeted for injuries and losses. The Armenian Ambassador  stressed the need to apply the language approved by the OSCE Minsk  Group co- chairs and fixed in the RA-EU document on the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In the Seim of Latvia, the Armenian Ambassador met with the Chairman  of the International Affairs Committee Oyar Erik Kalnins. The latter  presented in detail the preparations for the forthcoming  parliamentary elections. The interlocutors touched upon the domestic  political processes in Armenia and Latvia, as well as topical issues  of the regional and international agenda.