Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola in Strasbourg, at the European Parliament, after which they made statements and answered journalists' questions.

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola - Good morning everyone. Let me begin by expressing our condolences on behalf of the European Parliament to the families of the victims of the terrorist act against Swedish citizens that took place in Brussels yesterday. We wish them a speedy recovery. We will commemorate the victims during the evening plenary meeting. Extremism and terrorism cannot penetrate our societies, we have the right to feel safe and live in safety.

Dear Prime Minister Pashinyan, it is a great honor for me to welcome you at the house of democracy in Strasbourg. Hosting you here proves that we are loyal to Armenia and you are loyal to the European family. The European neighborhood, now more than ever, is unstable and insecure. War, conflict and instability - this is the reality that surrounds us now. Let me assure you that Armenia is an important partner for us within the Eastern Neighborhood of the European Union. And we express unconditional support for Armenia's independence and sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders. During the previous plenary session, two weeks ago, we adopted a resolution condemning the attack on Nagorno Karabakh. Our focus must now be on resuming honest and fair peace talks.

We urge to respect the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Active participation of the international community, international guarantees can promote peace and reconciliation. We remain committed to all efforts aimed at normalizing relations with Azerbaijan based on mutual recognition of the sovereignty, inviolability of borders, and territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Europe will continue to support Armenia in overcoming this situation. The Prime Minister and I talked about this. We offer our support on the occasion of the influx of refugees from Nagorno Karabakh, as well as for their reintegration in Armenia, most of the member states are also providing the necessary technical equipment, food and medicine through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

We call for the resumption of negotiations on all existing issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan. With the goal of concluding a peace treaty, we are fully committed to supporting the negotiations. We are fully committed to supporting dialogue between all parties under the auspices of the President of the European Council, with the support of the EU Special Representative, to ensure lasting peace for all people in the region.

Dear Prime Minister, dear Nikol, a few more things. You have led your country since May 2018, and I highly appreciate your pro-democratic path. I support the democratic reforms in your country, the deepening of our bilateral relations and closer cooperation with the European Union. This House will continue to support the people of Armenia in these difficult times.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - Dear Ms. Metsola, on behalf of myself, the Government of Armenia, and the people of Armenia, I offer my condolences regarding the terrorist act that took place in Brussels and I want to condemn this act of terrorism. I would like to express my solidarity with all the victims.

Honorable President Metsola, distinguished attendees,

Again, I would like to thank you, first of all you, Madam President, and the European Parliament for this invitation and the opportunity to speak at the plenary session of the European Parliament.

It will help us to share our views and concerns with the European and international community, but in today's speech I want to focus on the possibilities of establishing peace and stability in the South Caucasus region.

Today's event is important for the EU-Armenia relations and testifies to the high dynamics of these relations. It is important to emphasize that our relations are based on a common value system and democracy for us, for the Republic of Armenia, is a strategic choice and not an something dictated by circumstances. We want to deepen our relations with the European Union and we don't want to oppose this in any way with the vision of deepening and development of our regional relations, and in this regard, I think there are many points of support.

The Armenian government is committed to the full implementation of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. I am sure that the EU and Armenia have not exhausted the opportunities for supplementing the cooperation with new qualitative content, expanding it and bringing it to a new level. I will also talk about that today.

A security component has also been added to EU-Armenia relations in the form of the EU civilian mission, which monitors the state border of Armenia with Azerbaijan.
According to the results of the Granada summit of the European Political Community and today's discussions and your statement, it is obvious that there is a consensus among the EU institutions on deepening the relations with Armenia.

Armenia is also interested in promoting and developing the international legal system. On October 3, the Armenian parliament ratified the Rome Statute, which is a fundamental document of the International Criminal Court.

In this sense, the decision made by the Parliament of Armenia on September 12 to ratify Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in All Circumstances is also a significant move.

We expect the weighty support of the European Union in overcoming a number of challenges. Among others, it is about overcoming the humanitarian problems in Armenia caused by the forced displacement of more than 100 thousand Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, where we urgently need support.

Dear Madam President,

Once again, I thank the European Union and the European Parliament for providing continuous support to Armenia's development agenda, and I hope that my speech today will be a positive stimulus for the further development of EU-Armenia relations.

Question - Ms. Metsola, during the last year, the European Parliament adopted three resolutions and one report, which state that sanctions should be imposed on Azerbaijan. Does the European Parliament think of or is going to use mechanisms to implement these sanctions in practice? And I have one question for you, Mr. Prime Minister, what expectations does Armenia have from the European Parliament, in particular, taking into account the situation created in Armenia regarding our citizens forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh? And if you wish, you can also answer the question addressed Ms. Metsola.

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola - Thank you very much. Of course, it is no coincidence that this parliament has expressed a very clear position, resolutions and reports have been adopted by an overwhelming majority. The Parliament called for the resumption of peace talks as soon as possible, it is a positive sign that by the end of October, President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan agreed on the next meeting in Brussels under the mediation of Charles Michel.

Why? Because according to us, the negotiations should address, in particular, the delimitation of the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, communication channels and humanitarian issues. The events of the last month are very worrying, and by calling for peace, calling for humanitarian protection, we are sure that we will achieve the goals, which are the three principles mentioned by the Prime Minister. That is our goal.

The next steps will be taken together with other institutions, but this Parliament is a political body that has a call for us to be a forerunner in ensuring all the principles mentioned.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - Thank you. I hope you won't expect me to reveal here all the theses of my upcoming speech, as a result of which speaking at the plenary session will become a bit pointless. I will probably answer a lot of questions during my talk.

Question - Good morning. We often hear that the leadership of Azerbaijan says that Azerbaijan will ensure the safety of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, but we also saw President Aliyev walking on the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh. What message do you think these actions convey?

President Metsola, how can the European Union support the creation of an international mechanism that can help the Armenians of Karabakh to feel safe enough to return home?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - You know, I already said that more than 100 thousand Armenians were displaced from Nagorno Karabakh. And I also want to emphasize that another 20 thousand Armenians were displaced from Nagorno Karabakh and are in Armenia as a result of the 44-day war.

Our urgent task today is to focus on meeting the humanitarian needs of these people. I want all of us to understand the situation well: 100,000 people were displaced, subjected to ethnic cleansing and moved to Armenia within a week. Now our government is focused on addressing the most urgent needs of these people, from food, shelter, clothing, and so on, and we are super focused on addressing these issues. Of course, in this matter we expect the support of the international community, including the European Union, including in the form of budgetary support. I will touch on those topics in detail in my speech.

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola – When the Civil Protection Mechanism is triggered, the member states pool resources to ensure that a humanitarian crisis is overcome. As the Prime Minister also mentioned, we are talking about the movement of 100,000 people from Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia. It is heartbreaking to see the conditions they find themselves in and very heartening to see the conditions they have received in a country where they need protection. Of course, we will continue to talk about the right of people to live in peace and territorial integrity.

In terms of resources, I have spoken to the Commissioner responsible mentioning the fact that additional budgetary support will be required. Humanitarian tools should be combined to provide support to forcibly displaced people. Thank you.