Estonian parlt group delegation visits Armenia

TALLINN – A delegation of the Estonia-Armenia friendship group of the Estonian parliament was on a working visit to Armenia at the end of last week.

Mati Raidma, chairman of the parliamentary friendship group, said that high-level meetings were held in Yerevan with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, parliament speaker Alen Simonyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan and head of the Armenia-Estonia friendship group Arsen Torosyan as well as members of the group in parliament.

"The meetings strengthened the conviction that the consolidation of open democracy in the country is an irreversible process and getting rid of the dependence on Russia with international support is a real and feasible perspective," Raidma said.

The Estonian delegation confirmed Estonia's support regarding the peace negotiation process. Support was also expressed for the efforts of the Armenian leadership to reach an agreement that would ensure mutual respect for the territorial integrity of the countries and lead to sustainable stability in the region.

During the visit, the delegation also visited the Artashat municipality and a temporary place of accommodation of refugees in a local kindergarten, the Armenian representation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and participated in a patrol raid of the European monitoring mission EUMA in the Jermuk region.

The Estonian delegation witnessed the fact that, despite the very difficult situation, Armenia has been able to cope with receiving more than 100,000 refugees. The situation in the border areas is tense and during the patrol raid it was possible to observe the positions of the Azerbaijani troops on the territory of Armenia.

Members of the Estonia-Armenia parliamentary friendship group Anti Haugas and Juku-Kalle Raid also took part in the visit, which lasted from Nov. 2 to 5.

Parliamentary friendship groups help the MPs communicate with other national parliaments, carry out Estonia's foreign policy, and promote the country around the world.