YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, ARMENPRESS. The delegation led by the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ara Babloyan met with the Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico in the sidelines of the official visit to Slovakia.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia, speaking about the cooperation between the two states, Robert Fico noted with satisfaction that the Slovak Republic manages to be Armenia’s partner on inter-parliamentary platforms.

The Slovak Premier highly appreciated the liberalization of the entry visa by Armenia for the citizens of the Schengen Area and assured that Slovakia will make active efforts for liberalizing the entry visa of the citizens of Armenia to the Schengen Area. The sides also discussed cooperation in various spheres, including trade issues. The prime Minister of Slovakia hoped that in the future trade turnover will rise, for which his country will take all the necessary measures.

Speaking about the friendship of the two countries, Ara Babloyan particularly noted, “We have common values and goals which we must preserve and further strengthen”.  He assessed the fact that the two countries mark the 100th anniversary of their first republics this year as symbolic. Ara Babloyan highlighted the further activation of the partnership between the governments of Armenia and Slovakia, which will lead to the deepening of friendly relations and improvement of cooperation in various spheres.

Referring to Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia emphasized the necessity of a balanced position of the Slovak Republic, assessing the method of using force for the settlement of conflicts as inadmissible.

Slovak Premier Robert Fico underlined that the balanced position of Slovakia in its relations with Armenia, particularly on the Armenian Genocide and Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, is clear and invariable.

“The Government of the Slovak Republic will complete the national ratification process in due time and will immediately send the necessary documents to the parliament of Slovakia”, the Slovak Premier said,  adding that his country is open for active cooperation.