On November 22, the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan received Heribert Hirte, the FRG Bundestag Member, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on EU, the Member of the Committee on State and Legal Affairs.
On November 22, Heribert Hirte visited Armenia to take part in the OSCE/ODIHR Conference with the heading Preventing and Responding Hate-Motivated Crimes against Christians and Other Religious Groups – Perspectives from the OSCE and Beyond .
Welcoming Heribert Hirte in the RA National Assembly, Armen Ashotyan has highlighted the effective cooperation with German Bundestag, noting that the Armenian side is ready to make necessary efforts for the development and deepening of the relations with Bundestag.
Thanking for the warm reception, the FRG Bundestag member Heribert Hirte has stressed the high level of Armenia-Germany relations, noting that he is ready to take practical steps for boosting inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries.
Regarding the problems of the Christian communities, particularly in the Near East, the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations emphasized the issues of the security of the Armenian communities, as well as the preservation of the cultural heritages. The issues of freedom of thought, conscience, rule of law, protection of human rights were touched upon.
Within the framework of the inter-parliamentary cooperation Armen Ashotyan evaluated the effective and constructive activities between the Friendship Groups in the parliaments of the two states. He has expressed hope that the German deputies, whose names are related to the ”Azerbaijani laundry” corruption scandal, will not be included in the Armenian-German Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Groups.
During the meeting Armen Ashotyan has highlighted the issue of the Armenian Genocide recognition by the international community, stressing that the recognition of the Genocide is a step to prevent the committing of the new crimes against mankind.
Armen Ashotyan proposed his German Counterparts to take part in restoration works of the Der Ez-Zor Armenian Genocide Saint Martyrs Memorial Church.