President received Vice-President of the German Bundestag Frau Edelgard Bulmahn

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Vice President of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany Frau Edelgard Bulmahn. The President of Armenia welcomed the high guest to Armenia and said that he recalled warmly his April 5-7 visit to Germany and his meetings with the leadership of the country which were conducted in the atmosphere of frankness and mutual understanding. During the meetings discussed were issues related to the agenda of the Armenian-German relations and prospects of developing the bilateral cooperation. Serzh Sargsyan stressed the importance of reciprocal high-level visits, including the present visit of the Vice President of the German Bundestag, from the viewpoint of strengthening the relations between the two countries and underscored the role of the interparliamentary cooperation in the development of the interstate relations. The President hailed the years-long financial and technical assistance of the German government aimed at the social and economic development of Armenia and expressed gratitude to the German authorities.

The high guest in her turn noted that the Bundestag attaches great importance to the strengthening of the interparliamentary relations with Armenia and development of cooperation. Speaking about the visit of the Armenian President to Germany, Frau Bulmahn underscored that the visit found a broad response in her country and negotiations of the German leadership with the President of Armenia were useful and efficient and gave a new impetus to the Armenian-German relations. At the meeting, the parties spoke also about the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, particularly, to the discussions at the Bundestag related to the recognition of the Genocide and the relevant resolution. According to Serzh Sargsyan, the adoption of the resolution will demonstrate that Germany – once the ally of the Ottoman Empire – is able to once again look directly and honestly into some pages of its history and draw lessons from the past.

The Vice President of the Bundestag stressed the importance of such discussions in the Parliament of her country and presented the substance and aim of the resolution calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Frau Bulmahn asked the President of Armenia about the prospects of a peaceful resolution of the NK conflict and inquired of the efforts of the international community, including those of the OSCE Minsk Group.

President Serzh Sargsyan spoke in detail about the current situation and presented the approaches of the Armenian side on the resolution of the conflict.