Armenia's Prime Minister in Berlin
"We are delighted by your courage and your resolve to take this path," said the Chancellor on Thursday with a view to the course for reform taken by Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Their meeting at the Federal Chancellery looked at foreign and European issues alongside bilateral relations.
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Since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took office a lot has changed for the better in Armenia, stressed the Chancellor when they met.
Photo: Bundesregierung/Kugler
Chancellor Angela Merkel began her statement to the press by saying she had very good memories of her visit to Yerevan, Armenia’s capital in 2018. "Since then we have had a very close dialogue and German-Armenian relations have been stepped up."
On 14 January 2019, Nikol Pashinyan took office for a second term as Prime Minister of Armenia. He had already served as Prime Minister from May to October 2018. In Berlin, the 44-year-old met Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble before his meeting with the Chancellor. While he is in Germany he will also be attending the Munich Security Conference.
Further expanding bilateral relations
It was announced that the two countries would be discussing ways of further consolidating bilateral relations, Since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took office in the Caucasian state much has changed for the better stressed the Chancellor.
She gave the example of Armenia’s cooperation with the European Council’s Venice Commission. This Commission advises states on constitutional reforms in the field of the judiciary. Angela Merkel wished Armenia every success with the "large-scale process of renewal" it has launched, and said to Nikol Pashinyan, "We are delighted by your courage and your resolve to take this path."
The aim still to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The Chancellor praised the development of German-Armenian economic cooperation. In October 2019 the first bilateral business forum was held in Stuttgart. Angela Merkel also thanked Armenia for the "extremely positive cooperation" with Germany on the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which unfortunately remains unresolved, will still need "a lot of stamina", said the Chancellor.
The Republic of Armenia is a land-locked state in the southern Caucasus. The former Soviet Socialist Republic became independent in September 1991. The country has an area of a good 29,800 square kilometres and is home to a population of about three million. Some 1.1 million of them live in the capital, Yerevan. Armenia borders on Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey.