Working visit of the President Vahagn Khachaturyan to the Federal Republic of Germany

During his working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan took part in the official opening ceremony of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.

The opening of the conference was followed by a working dinner of the President of the Republic and the Presidents of the participating countries with Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz.

During the working dinner, issues related to opportunities and ways to solve problems of global peace, stability, security and development were discussed. The importance of joint efforts to achieve the above-mentioned goals was emphasized.

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President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan delivered a speech at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.

The goal of the Conference is «À better future for all on a healthy planet.» Are we reaching our goals fast enough and have we met all requirements for it, - alas not.

When I looked through the program, I deliberately picked up the Panel, entitled Peace Building for Securing Sustainable Development.

Regretfully, peace-building and peace-making are pressing issues, not only for my country and my region, but also beyond - and the current situation in the Middle East is a vivid example.

One should admit that currently we are facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War and the people’s sense of safety and security is at a lowest level ever.

Thus, people are unable to exercise their talents and full potential to contribute to a society, since there are risk of a new war or conflict.

Having said that, we agree that the challenges we face can be addressed only through stronger international cooperation.

From that perspective, I would like to welcome the recent adoption of the “Pact for the Future” by the United Nations, led by Germany and Namibia, aimed at strengthening international cooperation and promoting sustainable development.

Peacemaking and peacekeeping have helped to end wars, prevent conflicts and tensions from escalating into full-blown violence. In this context, let me bring my country’s example.

Deployment along the Armenian-Azerbaijani boarder of an unarmed civilian monitoring mission of the European Union, played a critical role in eventually downgrading boarder incidents for last two years.

As it is stressed in the Pact, we hope for a world that is safe, peaceful, just, equal, and sustainable, a world in which well-being, security, dignity are assured for all.

Financing for development, green transition and sustainability should be at the heart of our efforts in addressing those challenges, with focus on developing countries and countries in special situations.

We need to reform the international financial architecture to enable effective financing for development, which will take into account the specific needs of the middle-income countries.

We are also trying to initiate new and innovative approaches for helping the developing countries to meet their needs. One of such initiatives is the “Debt for Climate Swap” mechanism, which we propose to use within climate finance context, as a useful tool to relieve the debt of developing countries in return to their climate change mitigation efforts.

The 2030 Agenda stands clear there is no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.

Driven by this very philosophy and strong commitment to peace, the Government of Armenia is taking actions to bring peace and prosperity to the region. The Government of Armenia introduced the “Crossroad of Peace” initiative to unlock the economic potential of the region and strengthen economic and cultural ties, thus contributing to the political dialogue and achievement of a comprehensive peace for the benefit of all peoples in our region.

We hope that our efforts will be reciprocated by all interested countries, both in our region and beyond, to achieve a lasting peace and turning our efforts towards sustainable development and green growth.

In conclusion, I would like to once again thank the Government of Germany for its invitation to this important new initiative and wish every success to its deliberations.

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A solemn welcoming ceremony of the President of the Republic of Armenia took place at the Presidential Residence of Germany, followed by a meeting between Presidents Vahagn Khachaturyan and Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Welcoming the President of the Republic and the delegation headed by him, the President of Germany noted: "I am glad to welcome You to the Residence of the President of Germany and I am grateful that You took the time for this meeting, as well as to participate in the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.

At our last meeting at the "Special Olympics" in Berlin, we discussed various realities and developments in your region. Currently, there are still many problems and conflicts, and from this point of view, the Sustainability Conference has an important content to have a more peaceful and developing world.

I should note that Germany is interested in stimulating the development of both intercultural ties and economic relations with Armenia, and I realize that our interest is reciprocated. I also hope that in the near future it will be possible to fulfill my desire to visit Armenia."

Expressing gratitude for the welcome, President Vahagn Khachaturyan said: "Mr. President, it is an honor for me to be at the Presidential Residence of Germany, and I also thank for the invitation to the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.

I find the content of the conference important, at which new ideas and concepts aimed at peace were announced. We highly appreciate the close cooperation between Armenia and Germany in different directions, and Germany's presence in our reality is significant and considerable in a variety of spheres.

We attach important and value Germany's continuous support and contribution to the implementation of democratic reforms in Armenia. I am confident that in the near future our cooperation will continue to expand in the fields of economy, energy, culture, education and other directions, for which there is a bilateral desire and significant potential."

Over the course of the meeting, the President of Germany was interested in the general situation and developments in our region. In this context, the President of the Republic emphasized that Armenia is firmly moving towards achieving stable and lasting peace in the region, and for this purpose has launched the "Crossroads of Peace" project.

Touching upon the Armenian-Turkish relations, the President noted that the Armenian side, as before, is currently acting from the position of normalizing relations without preconditions, and in this regard, certain steps have also been taken towards the creation and restoration of border infrastructures.

Vahagn Khachaturyan stressed that Armenia's position is to have orderly and good-neighborly relations with all neighboring states, which proceeds from the interests of all countries in the region.

"It is clear to us that without peace, stability and good neighborliness, the expected development in our region and in the whole world is impossible," the President said.

During the conversation, the sides exchanged views on a number of issues on the agenda of cooperation between Armenia and Germany. A reference was made to a number of regional and global issues, on which the Presidents presented their positions.

At the end of the conversation, President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed that Germany supports Armenia's desire to establish good-neighborly relations with its neighbors and will make every possible effort to establish final peace in the South Caucasus region.