President of Italy to visit Armenia this summer

ArmInfo. In the summer of this year, Italian President Sergio Mattarella will visit Armenia. Mattarella himself told Serzh Sargsyan in Rome on 6 April during a meeting.

According to the presidential press service, during the meeting the  interlocutors stressed that such visits give new impetus to the  development of bilateral relations. The Presidents expressed their  satisfaction with the current level of Armenian-Italian relations,  taking into account the intensification of trade turnover between the  two countries.

In this context, the interlocutors noted the importance of the  establishment and activities of the Armenian- Italian  intergovernmental commission, the first meeting of which was held  several months ago. Mattarrell expressed gratitude to the Armenian  President for strengthening and developing Armenian-Italian relations  in the political, economic and cultural spheres. The President of  Italy noted that Armenia and the South Caucasus as a whole are of  strategic importance for Italy.

Sergio Mattarella noted that he is pleased that Italian investments  in the Armenian economy are growing, to the present amounting to $  200 million. According to the Italian President, the presence of  Italian companies in the Armenian market is also growing. In this  context, Serzh Sargsyan focused on the joint investment program of  the Italian company Renko and the German company Siemens, within  which a TPP will be built, which has no analogues in the region. The  President of Italy considered this an excellent example of  cooperation in the economic sphere.

Sergio Mattarella noted with joy, also the deepening of cultural  cooperation and the growing interest in Italian culture and Italian  language in Armenia, which, he said, testifies to mutual sympathy  between Armenians and Italians.

The interlocutors touched upon Armenia-EU relations and the Agreement  on an expanded and comprehensive partnership. The President of Italy  congratulated Armenia on signing the agreement. In this regard,  Sergio Mattarella noted that Armenia plays a leading role as a bridge  of cooperation and, indeed, is a vivid example of the fact that the  East and West do not oppose each other, but rather are a single  whole.  According to him, in this way, it is possible to establish  relations between the EU and the EAEU.

During the meeting, the process of peaceful settlement of the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also touched upon. Stressing that  Armenia supports the priorities of Italy's chairmanship in the OSCE  in 2018, Serzh Sargsyan attached great importance to the balanced  approach of the OSCE to the settlement of the Artsakh conflict, as  well as to the efforts and approaches of the OSCE Minsk Group  co-chairs. The President of Italy noted that his country supports the  efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at a peaceful resolution of the  Karabakh conflict and he does not intend to discuss another format of  cooperation, expressing the hope that the organization together with  the conflicting parties will find the right solution, and the problem  will be resolved as soon as possible with the help of compromises. He  also stressed that one of the priorities of the Italian chairmanship  in the OSCE is the resolution of protracted conflicts.

Sergio Mattarella, having learned from President Sargsyan that in a  few days Armenia will completely pass to the parliamentary system of  governance, noted that he admires with how smoothly this process is  being implemented in the republic.

The sides also considered the Armenian-Italian joint peacekeeping  mission in Lebanon a successful example of cooperation.

On the same day, the delegation headed by the Armenian President met  with the Chairman of the House of Representatives of Italy Roberto  Fico. During the meeting, the sides underscored the important role of  parliamentary diplomacy in bilateral relations, considering it  necessary to further intensify inter- parliamentary cooperation.