YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS. By the invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Fra Matthew Festing has arrived in Armenia on a state visit on October 22, press service of the Presidential administration told “Armenpress”.

On October 24 an official welcoming ceremony of His Most Eminent Highness Fra Matthew Festing and the delegation led by him was held in the Presidential Palace, which was followed by an extended format meeting between the Armenian President and the Grand Master with the participation of official delegations of the two states.

“Your Eminence, I warmly welcome You in Armenia. It is a great honor for me to host You and the respected delegation led by You. Your visit in Armenia is a very important event in the history of our diplomatic relations, and I am confident it will enable us to intensify our cooperation.

The connections of the world’s first Christian nation and the oldest Christian Order during the Crusades were formed on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit. We have the same Christian values, and those are the grounds which enable us today to establish active inter-state relations. I know You are holding a full agenda active meeting in Armenia. I hope You will have a chance to get acquainted with our people, our Christian culture which is somehow similar to the common Christian culture, but also it is unique and special”, the President said in a welcoming speech.

Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Fra Matthew Festing expressed gratitude to President Sargsyan for the warm words and hospitality and attached importance to his state visit in Armenia in terms of further strengthening the bilateral ties. “I was really fascinated when I had a chance to meet You in St. Peter’s Basilica when You arrived to take part in the Mass dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide innocent victims. And I think it is especially important that the representatives of the Christian people and organizations to be able to establish close cooperation with each other in this time of ruling secular morals. This is especially important in terms of emergency issues that now we are witnessing, in particular, the migration flows, refugee issues, their movements. I think in this context we must always stay in contact, exchange views and compare our approaches. And that is the reason that these relations are so important”, Fra Matthew Festing said.