First Lady of Poland visits Armenia, meets with NK refugees

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The First Lady of Poland Agata Kornhauser-Duda visited Armenia on November 28-29.

At the airport, First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda was welcomed by Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan and the Ambassador of Poland to Armenia Piotr Skwieciński.

As part of the visit, Agata Kornhauser-Duda met with representatives of the Polish community in Armenia, as well as with students and teachers of the Polish language. As part of the ‘Aid to Poles in the East’, the First Lady provided material assistance as well as educational and teaching materials, the Embassy of Poland said in a press release.

During the visit to Yerevan, the First Lady of Poland was hosted by Mission Armenia, where she met with the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.

The 'Mission Armenia' Charitable Non-Governmental Organization was founded in 1988 by a group of volunteers, who united their efforts to bring aid to the victims of the catastrophic earthquake in 1988 and to the refugees, who fled the war for Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s.

During her talks held with refugees, the First Lady asked, among others, how the forced displacement from Nagorno-Karabakh took place, as well as what they needed most and how they envisioned their future.

The meeting was attended by Alla Harutyunyan, Deputy Director of the organization and representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR Armenia.

In connection with the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, RARS and the Ministry of National Defense, implemented, among others, humanitarian transportation for refugees. In response to UNHCR's appeal, funds in the amount of USD 300,000 were also provided. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Yerevan, in cooperation with Armenian Caritas, provided a special aid for a group of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh who currently live in the Tegh community.

The First Lady of Poland also visited the Komitas Museum-Institute in Yerevan, where she met with representatives of the Polish community in Armenia. The meeting was enriched by the performance of the "Poloniada" choir. After the concert, the First Lady toured the Museum, where she became acquainted with the life and activities of Komitas, the creator of Armenian national classical music.