President Serzh Sargsyan met with the President of the Greek Parliament Nikos Voutsis

Today, in Athens President Serzh Sargsyan met with the President of the Parliament of Greece Nikos Voutsis. The President of Armenia and President of the Parliament of Greece stressed the importance of interparliamentary ties in the strengthening the interstate relations and expansion of the cooperation agenda. Noting that the National Assembly of Armenia has a good tradition of forming friendly relations with numerous European countries, President Sargsyan from that viewpoint stressed the importance of the reestablishment in the parliament of Greece of the Greece-Armenia Friendship Group, which in his opinion, could become a serious impetus for the development of bilateral interparliamentary relations. The President of Armenia stressed, in particular, the importance of the principled stance of the parliaments of the two countries regarding sensitive issues. In that context, President Sargsyan expressed gratitude to Nikos Voutsis and in his person to the Parliament of Greece which was among the first to recognize the Armenian Genocide and which in 2014 adopted a law on the criminalization of the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The President of Armenia noted that representatives of the Armenian community of Greece and traditional Armenian structures functioning in Greece at the meeting asked him to convey to the President of the Greek Parliament and its members their gratitude and reminded that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the recognition by Greece of the Armenian Genocide.

Serzh Sargsyan noted with satisfaction efficient meetings he has had with President Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Tsipras which took place in the framework of his official visit to Greece. At the meetings, the parties stressed the importance of maintaining a regular political dialogue, expansion of cooperation in the economic, cultural and scientific areas, as well as consistent deepening of the interparliamentary ties. With regard to the strengthening of interparliamentary ties, President Sargsyan highlighted personal contribution of Nikos Voutis and noted that he was anticipating continuous and active steps aimed at the strengthening of the centuries-long Armenian-Greek friendly relations.

On the last day of his visit to the Republic of Greece, before the working lunch with the Nikos Voutis, President Serzh Sargsyan held meetings with the representatives of the local Armenian national organizations such as ARF, RAK and SDHK.