On March 30, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received the delegation headed by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, the Secretary of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France.
The meeting started with a private talk, and continued in an expanded format with the participation of delegations.
Welcoming the guest, Edward Nalbandian recalled with warmth the meeting with Minister of State Lemoyne in Paris during his visit to France last December.
Expressing gratitude for the warm reception, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne noted that he was glad to be in friendly Armenia, emphasizing that the visit of his delegation has a very rich agenda.
Throughout the meeting the interlocutors had discussed in a detailed manner the preparations for the Summit of La Francophonie, Ministerial Conference, meeting of Permanent Council and related events to be held in Yerevan on October 7-12, as well as the documents to be adopted during the Summit and issues related to the planned events and discussions. In this context Minister Nalbandian noted that preparatory works for the 17th Summit of La Francophonie are well under way and in accordance with the fixed time frame, in close cooperation with all relevant state agencies of Armenia and OIF Secretariat.
The agenda of the meeting included a number of issues of the Armenian-French privileged relations. The interlocutors commended the continuous and comprehensive development of Armenian-French bilateral cooperation marked with numerous visits, including at presidential level, strengthening of inter-parliamentary ties, establishment of new friendly relations between the regions and cities of Armenia and France, deepening economic cooperation, expansion of French business presence, strengthening of cultural and scientific-educational ties.
The parties also discussed opportunities for cooperation in multilateral and bilateral formats provided within the framework of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
Foreign Minister of Armenia briefed his interlocutor on the recent developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, highly appreciating the efforts made by France, as well as the other OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – Russia and the United States, towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
Throughout the meeting a number of issues of international and regional importance were touched upon.