Official welcoming ceremony for Moldova President held at Presidential Palace

At the invitation of RA President Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon today arrived in the Republic of Armenia on official visit. President Serzh Sargsyan and Mrs. Rita Sargsyan met President Igor Dodon and Mrs. Galina Dodon at the Presidential Palace. After the official welcoming ceremony, a private meeting was held between Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Igor Dodon.

Greeting his counterpart, President Sargsyan noted that the President of Moldova is a welcome visitor and highly appreciated President Dodon’s official visit to our country, which is held in the year of the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Moldova.

“This is a good opportunity to analyze the work we have done over the past 25 years and to outline the prospects for further development. Our peoples have boasted close ties of friendship for many centuries, and our interstate relations are built on a very solid basis. I am just convinced that your visit will give a strong impetus to bilateral relations. We are eager to build up close ties of interaction in all aspects of political, economic and humanitarian close cooperation.

We have no limitations in terms of cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral formats. You are welcome to Armenia. I am very glad that you are in Yerevan. This is your first official visit, and I hope that such visits will be paid annually,” President Serzh Sargsyan said.

Thanking Serzh Sargsyan for the invitation, Igor Dodon described his official visit as historical, given the fact that it is the first ever visit paid by Moldovan Presidents to Armenia during the past 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“Neither official nor working visits have been paid during these years. Therefore, considering our common historical ties and shared interests both within the CIS frameworks and the emerging integration projects within the CIS, I have decided to come over. Undoubtedly, we pay great attention to this visit. Yes, we have signed many agreements over the past 25 years. We have already signed fifteen agreements, with seven arrangements being prepared at this point of time.

We have much to talk about; there are specific results and, of course, perspectives. I hope to discuss with you in detail your experiences within the Eurasian Economic Union. I know you are going to sign a cooperation agreement with the European Union in the near future. I think that countries like Moldova and Armenia are doomed to having good relations with everyone both in the West and the East. We, in Moldova, more than ever need to master Armenia’s expertise of cooperation with the EAEU and the EU.

I wish to thank you for your support of our position in becoming an EAEU observer. We have maintained regular contacts on the matter. That is why I am sure that we will work together in this direction from now on.

You know that there is an Armenian community in Moldova, with whom we have strong ties of cooperation. Settled down in Moldova for several decades now, they feel at home in our country. I want to thank you for the first serious step taken on the way to deepening our bilateral relations. I mean the opening of the Armenian Embassy in Kishinev last year. This year we started to cooperate very actively with your Ambassador to Moldova. All this evidences that we are in for a new level of bilateral relations,” Moldovan President Igor Dodon stated.