Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia Robert Fico made statements to the media after the meeting.
The statements of the Prime Ministers of the two countries are presented below.
Nikol Pashinyan – Dear Mr. Prime Minister Fico, esteemed colleagues,
I welcome the delegation led by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia and the Prime Minister himself to the Republic of Armenia.
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This is a very good opportunity to reflect on the issues on our bilateral agenda and the prospects for the development of relations, which we have already done both in private conversations and during the meeting with delegations.
Such high-level mutual visits breathe new life into the political dialogue between our friendly countries. I would like to thank Prime Minister Fico for the invitation extended to me to visit Slovakia, and I gladly accept that invitation. We agreed that this possible upcoming visit will in some sense be the continuation of this visit, so that we have the opportunity to reflect on the agenda issues that we have already had the opportunity to shape. I think it is a very good approach for us to focus on specific agendas, because in general, the agenda of our bilateral relations is very broad, but at the suggestion of Prime Minister Fico, we decided to take several leading directions and, by focusing on these directions, open up new opportunities for other agendas of our bilateral relations.
I must emphasize that this visit is, of course, a very telling evidence of the active political dialogue between our countries. And I want to thank Mr. Prime Minister for the support, yes, the very support that Slovakia has provided to Armenia in recent years, in particular, for the presence of the European Union Monitoring Mission in the Republic of Armenia, where Slovakia’s support has been significant, as well as in terms of the Republic of Armenia’s participation in the European Peace Facility programs. Of course, now we are also in an active negotiation phase with the European Union on visa liberalization, and we are grateful for the support provided by Slovakia in this regard as well.
We have already had the opportunity to touch upon this topic today, that next spring the European Political Community Summit will be held in Armenia, which is a very big event for Armenia and, in general, one of the most important European platforms. I have also personally addressed Prime Minister Fico on this issue and received the support of both his and our other European partners, which I also highly appreciate.
Of course, our cooperation agendas are very comprehensive, and we agreed to focus our upcoming cooperation on several directions: political dialogue, in particular, including in the context of Armenia-European Union relations. There is a very large agenda for cooperation in the energy sector, in particular, in the field of nuclear energy. We also discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the military-industrial sphere, and we also see certain opportunities there. I hope and am sure that as a result of this visit, we will have concrete agendas and projects in all these directions.
Of course, the Prime Minister is accompanied by a fairly representative business delegation, and I am sure that as a result of this delegation’s visit, the private sector will also have opportunities to discuss new projects in various economic sectors. And these discussions, of course, will have a concrete result and expression under high patronage.
Honorable Mr. Prime Minister,
Let me welcome your visit once again and emphasize its importance, both in the context of our bilateral relations and Armenia-European Union relations. Of course, today I had the opportunity to present the peace agenda, our ideas on the implementation of the peace agenda, both during bilateral discussions and within the framework of the “Yerevan Dialogue” conference that started today. I would like to emphasize once again that our strategy, our strategic decision is to remain committed to the peace agenda. I hope that during today’s speech I was able to present to our international partners and make it more visible how close peace is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Of course, we will fully and completely fulfill our responsibility in this regard.
I am glad to note that we are also continuing our consultations with Azerbaijan so that this historic opportunity is not missed. Let me express my conviction that it will not be missed, because, of course, not without difficulties, but we are moving forward, and the fact that we were able to complete this in this environment, in difficult international and regional conditions, to achieve, to close the negotiations on the draft peace agreement, to close it successfully, that is, to have an agreed text that is ready for signing, is, of course, a very important and very big achievement, but it is a step that must have continuation.
I would like to thank Slovakia, the Slovak Government and Prime Minister Fico personally for their support in this matter, because Slovakia was one of the first countries to welcome the end of the negotiations on the draft peace agreement, the fact of reaching an agreement, and of course, it is one of the countries that is waiting for the signing of the agreement.
Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for your visit, your constructive approach, your result-oriented proposals and political support.
Robert Fico – Dear Mr. Prime Minister, as Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, I have pursued the concept of a sovereign foreign policy of Slovakia, which is oriented in all four main directions. I confirm the fact that the European Union and NATO are our living space, but it is very important for us to develop mutually beneficial bilateral relations. I was very pleased, Mr. Prime Minister, to hear from you directly your assessment of the status of the peace negotiations between your country and Azerbaijan. This information is very valuable for me, and I will be happy to convey it to my colleagues in the European Union.
When we were preparing this visit, I was trying to find some points on which we can successfully cooperate in the future. And I am very glad that among the businessmen who came from Slovakia there are people, companies that operate in such areas in which we can achieve mutually beneficial cooperation soon.
Dear Mr. Prime Minister, You mentioned nuclear energy. We, Armenia and Slovakia, have the same reactors. I presented to you what our vision is, what we want to do with our nuclear power plant in Slovakia. We were talking about spent nuclear fuel. You and we have specialized companies, let’s have a wonderful cooperation through their joint efforts.
Another area of cooperation that we discussed very openly is the defense industry. I said, if I may repeat what I said, if we do not produce weapons, someone else will, and we will have to buy. If we have to spend a lot of money on our defense, then let’s do what we can, as small countries, find products that will meet our needs and at the same time this cooperation will allow us not to buy from other large partners, from the North Atlantic Alliance.
I informed the Prime Minister about dual-use projects. With the funding we have in our military budget, we are designing projects, for example, hospitals or reconstruction of roads, reconstruction of bridges. I believe that the army needs infrastructure, not just weapons, as we have seen in the past.
The next area is the exchange of general experience. As you mentioned, Mr. Prime Minister, if you are interested, we would be happy to present to you our experience with the European Union, where we have made mistakes or where we have succeeded. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I am glad that we will be able to present to you the best experience, the best practice. In Slovakia, we have found some solutions, for example, in the field of public procurement or in the text of the law on strategic investments. I am sure that you will also have interesting things from which we can learn lessons, we can both learn from each other.
I am very glad that we have reached an agreement to mutually assist each other in the issue of candidacies for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and to support various missions. Both Armenia and Slovakia have an important role to play. We clarified the directions of our cooperation, also taking into account the composition of our business delegations, and focused on several areas, and I consider this visit very successful. And I highly appreciate that I had the opportunity to speak within the framework of the “Yerevan Dialogue” forum. So thank you very much, Honorable Prime Minister, for your hospitality. We look forward to your visit to Slovakia. Thank you.
The Office to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia