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Within the framework of his official visit to Norway, on February 7 Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with former Secretary General of the Council of Europe and former Prime Minister of Norway, Thorbjørn Jagland.
Foreign Minister Mirzoyan awarded Thorbjørn Jagland the Order of Honor of the Republic of Armenia, the foreign ministry said in a press release.
During the awarding ceremony, Minister Mirzoyan said: “It is a true honor to bestow you this order. This is a sign and evidence of acknowledgement of your contribution to our democracy, and also in strengthening ties between our two countries. Congratulations”.
In his turn, Thorbjørn Jagland said: “It's a great honor, it's a great pleasure to receive this order.
Mr. Foreign Minister, can I offer you a beautiful story? Yes, and to everybody here. Because the first time I got acquainted with an Armenian and Armenia, was when I was Foreign Minister. And I was visiting Ramallah on the West Bank, and it was the end of Ramadan and Yasser Arafat had the habit of inviting all the religious leaders in the area, in Jerusalem, for a meal. At the end, the last day of Ramadan. So I was invited, because I was there, and I was sitting next to Yasser Arafat, and on my right hand side, there was also (I mean, all the religious leaders in Jerusalem were there), on my right hand side, there was a very old man. I didn't know who he was, but he had a very strange costume, I must say, like all the other religious leaders. And he was that old, I didn't think he knew who I was, but after a while, he got aware of it. So he learned that I was Foreign Minister of Norway, and you know what he did? He took out a document from his pocket, and said: “This document has followed me the whole life, it saved my life”. It was a Nansen passport. So that was one of the reasons why I got so attached to Armenia for the first time, I believe. And I'm glad that we could do something from the Council of Europe side, first when you joined the Council of Europe. I was not there then, but afterwards, we worked a lot with you to establish new laws and new practices and all this, accommodating the rules in Europe. And I'm very glad to see, and we also, I think we contributed a lot to the transition to the Parliamentary Republic, which you now have. So I'm really deeply honored, and thank you very much. I will always have Armenia in my heart. Thank you.”
During the meeting, Ararat Mirzoyan and Thorbjørn Jagland also exchanged views on regional developments.