ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ARRIVES ON STATE VISIT TO BUDAPEST ON NOVEMBER 9 AT INVITATION OF HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT
Noyan Tapan
Nov 9, 2009
BUDAPEST, NOVEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. At the invitation of the preident of
Hungary Laszlo Solyom, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has arrived
on a state visit to Budapest on November 9. As the RA presidential
press service reported, since Armenia’s independence, this is the
first state visit to Hungary at the level of Armenian president.
Following the official welcoming ceremony at the palace of the
Hungarian president, S. Sargsyan made a record in the Book of Honorary
Guests. Then a tete-a-tete talk of S. Sargsyan and L. Solyom took
place followed by negotiations in an enlarged staff.
L. Solyom said Hungary considers Armenia an important partner and is
prepared to deepen its political dialog, cooperation in trade, economy,
humanitarian and other spheres with Armenia in both the bilateral
and multilateral formats. The presidents expressed confidence that
the current visit will become a stimulus for promotion of relations
between the two countries. In their words, the documents and agreements
to be signed during the visit will create a sufficient legal basis
for developing the Armenian-Hungarian friendly links.
S. Sargsyan and L. Solyom said that despite the evident dynamism of
the political dialog between Armenia and Hungary in recent period,
the rates of trade and economic cooperation do not yet reflect the
existing potential. They stated with confidence that the documents
signed and the Armenian-Hungarian business forum to open in Budapest
will give fresh impetus to business ties and help increase the trade
turnover between the two countries in parallel with overcoming of
the global financial and economic crisis.
The heads of the two states attached great importance to fostering
direct cooperation of state bodies and departments, as well as various
cities of Armenia and Hungary.
They also pointed out the importance of further deepening of
collaboration of the two countries at international organizations and
in other formats, in particular the EU Eastern Partnership Project. In
the words of S. Sargsyan, Armenia considers the European direction
of its policy a priority and views the Eastern Partnership policy as
a new opportunity to develop its relations with the European Union
and various EU member states.
L. Solyom noted that Hungary is following carefully the progress in
the implementation of Armenia’s Action Plan within the framework of
the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership
Project, as well as its reforms in this respect. He declared that in
2011 – during their presidency of the EU, the Eastern policy will be
one of Hungary’s top priorities.
During the negotiations, S. Sargsyan informed his Hungarian counterpart
about the normalization process of Armenian-Turkish relations
and the current stage of negotiations on the Karabakh conflict
settlement. "We want to solve the existing problems peacefully
and without any preconditions and to establish relations with our
neighbors, allocating the available resources for the sustainable and
peaceful development of our region. I believe that it is possible to
ensure development, a lasting peace and stability in the region only
through cooperation," S. Sargsyan stated.
L. Solyom in his turn welcomed the progress in the normalization of
Armenia-Turkey relations, saying that Hungary supports the process
of regulating the relations between the two neighboring states.
At the meeting, the two presidents exchanged ideas about regional
security problems. S. Sargsyan thanked his Hungarian counterpart for
the fair attitude of the Hungarian court during the examination of
the case of the Armenian officer Gurgen Margarian’s brutal murder in
Budapest. He also expressed his gratitude to the Hungarian authorities
for their policy with respect the Armenian community in Hungary.
S. Sargsyan invited the Hungarian president to pay a return visit to
Armenia, which will give an opportunity to continue political dialog,
coordinate the implementation of the agreements reached and to outline
the further priorities of deepening the cooperation. L. Solyom accepted
the invitation to visit Armenia.
Following the high level negotiations, S. Sargsyan and L. Solyom
signed the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the
prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and
property between the governments of Armenia and Hungary, the agreement
on cooperation between the ministries of justice and agriculture of
the two countries, and the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation
in the sphere of economy.
Then the presidents of Armenia and Hungary made statements finalizing
the results of the negotiations.
During the state visit, S. Sargsyan went to Heroes’ Square in Budapest
and laid a wreath at the memorial complex of the heroes who died for
Hungary’s independence. In downtown Budapest, he laid a wreath at the
Khachkar in memory of the Armenian Genocide victims and talked with the
Armenian community’s representatives who had gathered at the Khachkar.