ArmInfo. In the summer of this year, Italian President Sergio Mattarella will visit Armenia. Mattarella himself told Serzh Sargsyan in Rome on 6 April during a meeting.
According to the presidential press service, during the meeting the interlocutors stressed that such visits give new impetus to the development of bilateral relations. The Presidents expressed their satisfaction with the current level of Armenian-Italian relations, taking into account the intensification of trade turnover between the two countries.
In this context, the interlocutors noted the importance of the establishment and activities of the Armenian- Italian intergovernmental commission, the first meeting of which was held several months ago. Mattarrell expressed gratitude to the Armenian President for strengthening and developing Armenian-Italian relations in the political, economic and cultural spheres. The President of Italy noted that Armenia and the South Caucasus as a whole are of strategic importance for Italy.
Sergio Mattarella noted that he is pleased that Italian investments in the Armenian economy are growing, to the present amounting to $ 200 million. According to the Italian President, the presence of Italian companies in the Armenian market is also growing. In this context, Serzh Sargsyan focused on the joint investment program of the Italian company Renko and the German company Siemens, within which a TPP will be built, which has no analogues in the region. The President of Italy considered this an excellent example of cooperation in the economic sphere.
Sergio Mattarella noted with joy, also the deepening of cultural cooperation and the growing interest in Italian culture and Italian language in Armenia, which, he said, testifies to mutual sympathy between Armenians and Italians.
The interlocutors touched upon Armenia-EU relations and the Agreement on an expanded and comprehensive partnership. The President of Italy congratulated Armenia on signing the agreement. In this regard, Sergio Mattarella noted that Armenia plays a leading role as a bridge of cooperation and, indeed, is a vivid example of the fact that the East and West do not oppose each other, but rather are a single whole. According to him, in this way, it is possible to establish relations between the EU and the EAEU.
During the meeting, the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also touched upon. Stressing that Armenia supports the priorities of Italy's chairmanship in the OSCE in 2018, Serzh Sargsyan attached great importance to the balanced approach of the OSCE to the settlement of the Artsakh conflict, as well as to the efforts and approaches of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The President of Italy noted that his country supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict and he does not intend to discuss another format of cooperation, expressing the hope that the organization together with the conflicting parties will find the right solution, and the problem will be resolved as soon as possible with the help of compromises. He also stressed that one of the priorities of the Italian chairmanship in the OSCE is the resolution of protracted conflicts.
Sergio Mattarella, having learned from President Sargsyan that in a few days Armenia will completely pass to the parliamentary system of governance, noted that he admires with how smoothly this process is being implemented in the republic.
The sides also considered the Armenian-Italian joint peacekeeping mission in Lebanon a successful example of cooperation.
On the same day, the delegation headed by the Armenian President met with the Chairman of the House of Representatives of Italy Roberto Fico. During the meeting, the sides underscored the important role of parliamentary diplomacy in bilateral relations, considering it necessary to further intensify inter- parliamentary cooperation.