Military cooperation has its peculiar place in Armenian-Italian relations: President

YEREVAN, 9 APRIL, ARMENPRESS: In the framework of the official visit of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to Italy, the Head of State met with the Minister of Defense of Italy Roberta Pinotti on April 9. The press service of the Armenian President’s Office informed Armenpress that at the meeting the interlocutors discussed issues related to the expansion of the cooperation in the framework of the bilateral partnership agreement, signed between the two countries.

After the meeting Serzh Sargsyan and Roberta Pinotti conducted a videoconference at the Ministry of Defense, held jointly with the Armenian and Italian servicemen, implementing peacekeeping activities in Lebanon under the auspices of the UN.

Warmly greeting the officers and the servicemen, the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated in particular:

“Dear servicemen and officers,

I am happy that my official visit to Italy launches with this particular meeting with you, which means that the military cooperation has its peculiar place in the Armenian-Italian relations. Most of you might remember that 11 years ago, guided by a sense of collective responsibility for security sector, we started participating in the peacekeeping missions.

The first country was Kosovo and taking into account the successful experience, we continued the missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and now in Lebanon with your direct participation. I would like to specially stress the importance of the mission, implemented in Lebanon, which in the ancient times was and now as well is a friendly country for us”, - stated the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.