18:05,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan held a meeting on August 22 with Belgium’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib.

During the meeting Simonyan said that the active cooperation between the Armenian and Belgian parliaments is a key instrument for the further development of relations between the two countries. Belgium’s decision on opening a resident embassy in Yerevan is a sign of strong partnership, he said.

The parties commended the bilateral and multilateral poles of the effective and constructive dialogue between Armenia and Belgium, underscoring in particular the Armenia-EU partnership circle.

The critical situation in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the Lachin Corridor crisis was in the focus of the meeting. The parties concurred that the corridor must be immediately reopened. Simonyan said that he expects from his Belgian colleagues effective steps in the issue of the security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. He attached importance to the need for involving international mechanisms in the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue and active discussions on possible sanctions against Azerbaijan.