President Vahagn Khachaturyan had a meeting with the representatives of the Armenian community in Bulgaria

Within the framework of his state visit to the Republic of Bulgaria, President Vahagn Khachaturyan had a meeting with the representatives of the Armenian community in Bulgaria.

At the beginning of the meeting, the President awarded a National Assembly Member of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Chairman of the Armenian-Bulgarian friendship group Atanas Zafirov with the Medal of Gratitude for his contribution to strengthening and developing friendly relations between Armenia and Bulgaria and preserving universal values.

“It is a big honor for me to receive this award, presented to me by the president of the Republic of Armenia. This medal is greatly important as it represents the work of thousands of Bulgarians and Armenians, aimed at the development of cooperation between our countries”, said Atanas Zafirov.

President Vahagn Khachaturyan noted that he highly appreciates the attitude of the Bulgarian authorities towards our compatriots. “We, the contemporaries, have a duty to continue the centuries-old traditions. Once again, I congratulate you and wish success to you and your colleagues”, said President Khachaturyan.

Afterwards, during the meeting with the representatives of the Armenian community, the President briefly summarized the results of his state visit to Bulgaria, touched upon the current developments in Armenia and in our region, as well as the settlement of the Artsakh conflict. The President attached importance to the EU observation mission in Armenia these days.

“We need the support of our partner countries. I mean the support of the EU, the main aim of which is to record the problem of the border conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and to conduct a subsequent monitoring.

We are hopeful that the observation mission will help us record the violations perpetrated by Azerbaijan and present it in international instances, after which, the demand to withdraw the troops will come to fruition. In this regard, the support of both Bulgaria and the EU is momentous for us”, said President Khachaturyan. “Azerbaijan declares that we aspire not to recognize their territorial integrity and usurp their territories. We have never had such an aspiration. Our desire is to live in peace. We need to manage to provide an environment favorable for our country to prosper and develop rapidly. We are on the path of peace. Peace has its price for us, yet it doesn’t mean that we are begging on our knees. No. We are simply announcing that we wish to pursue peace. We are the protectors of our territory and there isn’t and won’t ever be a wish to relinquish even a centimeter of our land”.

During the meeting, in a friendly atmosphere, President Khachaturyan provided thorough answers to the questions of the community representatives, pertaining to the relations between Armenia and Turkey, the energy challenges, as well as the foreign and domestic policies and different aspects of economic and public life of Armenia.