Czech President pledges support for Armenia in reducing economic dependence on Russia

The Czech Republic will seek to support Armenia in reducing its economic dependence on Russia and diversifying its economic relations.

As the Armenpress correspondent reports from Prague, Czech President Petr Pavel made the remarks during a joint press conference following his meeting with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan at the presidential residence.

The Czech President said he welcomed Armenia’s steps towards reducing its economic dependence on Russia. He stressed that Russia uses its influence to exert pressure on neighbouring countries and prevents them from expanding relations with other countries.

“Armenia is heavily dependent on the Russian market, and we will seek to provide support so that the country can reduce that dependence,” Pavel said, recalling that the Council of the European Union had decided a day earlier to liberalise the EU market for around 80% of goods exported from Armenia by removing tariffs on them for a period of two years.

The Czech President said he saw potential for cooperation with Armenia in a number of areas, including energy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and security.

“We focus on these issues during our meetings, and I hope that we will have concrete results in the near future,” Pavel said.

The meeting between Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Czech President Petr Pavel took place on September 3 at the presidential residence at Prague Castle. Their one-on-one meeting was followed by discussions in an expanded format with the participation of the delegations.

The presidents’ press conference was followed by Vahagn Khachaturyan’s meeting with President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vystrčil at the Waldstein Palace. The meeting was also attended by the Senate’s vice-presidents and the chairs of the committees on foreign affairs, defence and security, as well as EU affairs.

The discussions will then continue at the Chamber of Deputies, where the Armenian President will be welcomed by President of the Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura.

The official visit will also include a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community in the Czech Republic, as well as an event entitled “Solidarity: Commemorating Czech Support for Armenia Following the 1988 Earthquake”.

As part of the event planned at the Rothmayer Hall of Prague Castle, a meeting will be held with firefighters who carried out a rescue mission in Armenia following the devastating earthquake of December 7, 1988, and with organisers of a humanitarian fundraising campaign.