The official ceremony of welcoming President Armen Sarkissian and Mrs. Nouneh Sarkissian took place at the Bellevue Palace – residence of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Mrs. Elke Büdenbender welcomed President Sarkissian and Mrs. Nouneh Sarkissian at the entrance of the Palace and accompanied to the hall, to make an inscription at the Book of Honorary Guests.
The military band played the state anthems of Armenia and Germany, and the two Presidents accepted greetings of the honor guard.
Later, Presidents Sarkissian and Steinmeier had a private meeting which was followed by the meeting in the extended format with the participation of the delegations.
The President of Germany welcomed Armen Sarkissian and saluted his first official visit to Germany. He also spoke of the recent changes in Armenia and hailed their peaceful nature.
In his remarks President Sarkissian noted that he was glad to conduct an official visit to Germany. “I am glad to be hosted in the friendly Germany in the framework of my first official visit. Germany is Armenia’s friend, one of our primary economic partners, an active supporter of the Armenia-EU agenda. Germany is also interesting for us as a country with a parliamentary system of governance and the German experience of parliamentary democracy is very important for us and might be instructive,” President Armen Sarkissian said.
Hailing the financial, technical, and economic assistance provided by Germany to our country as well as the support to democracy and legal reforms, President Sarkissian stressed the importance of expanding cooperation in the educational, scientific, and cultural areas. Cooperation in the area of technologies was viewed as especially promising as well as the implementation of the programs for students and science workers exchange.
President Sarkissian invited his counterpart to conduct an official visit to Armenia. President Steinmeier accepted the invitation.