Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received a delegation of French National Assembly members, headed by France-Armenia Friendship Group Vice President, Chairman of France-Artsakh Friendship Circle Guy Teissier.

The delegation comprised: founding member of the France-Artsakh Friendship Circle Valérie Boyer, France-Artsakh Friendship Circle members Daniel Kazarian and Mohamed Laqhila, MPs Jean-Pierre Cubertafon, Guillaume Kasparian and Pierre Ouzoulias.

Greeting the French National Assembly members, the Premier stressed that they had made a great contribution to the development of Armenian-French friendship and the fair resolution of the Artsakh issue.

“We highly appreciate your efforts as another evidence of the privileged Armenian-French relations. We are grateful for your support, your tenacity, consistency and determination in the defense of the rights of the people of Artsakh. You are making an important contribution to the peaceful settlement of the Artsakh issue and to maintaining peace and stability in the region,” Nikol Pashinyan noted.

The head of the Armenian government pointed out that the continued deepening of inter-parliamentary relations in both bilateral and multilateral formats might help strengthen the Armenian-French relations.

Thankful for appreciation and kind remarks, Guy Tessien noted that during his tenure as Vice President of the France-Armenia Friendship Group for over 30 years now, he has been working to strengthen and build on the Armenian-French friendship. Taking the opportunity, he imparted their impressions of the visit paid by French MPs to Artsakh a few days ago.

He noted that the people of Artsakh have the will to voice their aspiration and determination to live in peace, and the members of the France-Artsakh Friendship Framework will continue to visit Artsakh with the aim of supporting them in the peaceful settlement of the issue.

The France-Armenia Friendship Group Vice President noted that France is closely following the democratic changes taking place in Armenia and deeply respects the steps taken in that direction. In this context, he referred to the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and expressed readiness to support the implementation of CEPA within the framework of Armenian-French inter-parliamentary cooperation.

The Prime Minister highlighted the support provided by Armenia’s European partners, including France, for democratic reforms in our country and the importance of launching visa liberalization talks in the context of the further expansion of EU-Armenia cooperation.

Nikol Pashinyan expressed gratitude for the steps taken by France for the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and also for the proclamation of April 24 by French President Emmanuel Macron as the National Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, which testifies to the irreversible nature of Armenian-French deeply-rooted friendship.

During the exchange of views that followed, the Prime Minister of Armenia answered French lawmakers’ questions on the ongoing anticorruption and judicial reforms, women’s involvement in social and political life, the promotion of economic activity, the social integration of Syrian Armenians, etc.