Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and answers to journalists’ questions at the joint press conference with the OSCE Chairperson-in-office, Minister for[...]

Good afternoon, dear colleagues.

Today I have the honor to host the OSCE Chairperson-in-office and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, my dear friend Elina Valtonen.

First of all, I would like to note that the visit of the OSCE Chairperson-in-office to the region is taking place under entirely new circumstances, amid developments of great significance for our region. I am primarily referring to the establishment of the peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Peace Summit held in Washington, DC, on August 8, and the agreements reached there. I have presented to our colleagues the details, including the initialing of the Treaty and the principles enshrined in the Declaration, as well as the principles under which the unblocking of infrastructure and transport communications will take place.

It is no secret that the OSCE, through its instruments, was meant to contribute to the establishment of peace in the South Caucasus. And now, when peace has been established, we have, among other agreements, also undertaken the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group and its structures. These new realities are also new from the perspective of Armenia-OSCE cooperation and Armenia's participation in the Organization. In this context, as a country operating in a new reality, we need to identify new horizons, new dimensions, and new frameworks for cooperation and engagement.

We are particularly interested in exploring opportunities for cooperation in economic and environmental issues.

Secondly, we hope that the OSCE platform, both under the current and future Chairmanships, will contribute to the further consolidation of peace. This concerns not only the South Caucasus, but the entire OSCE area. It is especially important to focus on the dimension of eliminating enmity between peoples, and here I would like to quote from our recently signed Washington Declaration: about the creation of "conditions to finally embark on building good neighborly relations after the conflict that brought immense human suffering," and the implementation of efforts in that direction.

Overall, the Republic of Armenia wishes to see a strong and effective OSCE, the effective organization across all three dimensions.

In the current geopolitical environment, the OSCE needs the firm commitment of its participating states to the spirit and principles of that historic document - I mean the Helsinki Final Act - in order to strengthen the Organization's effectiveness and resilience. Only in this way can it fully contribute, in line with its primary mandate, to ensuring security and stability within the OSCE area of responsibility, to conflict resolution, to the prevention of gross violations of human rights, and to efforts aimed at restoring violated rights. We have consistently advocated for the full implementation of the principles of the Helsinki Final Act throughout the entire OSCE area of responsibility, and our efforts will continue to be directed toward this goal.

Also, of course, dear colleagues, we did not overlook Armenia-Finland bilateral relations. Minister Valtonen and I noted with satisfaction that relations between our two countries have recently gained new momentum. In July 2024, meetings between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Finland took place within the framework of the European Political Community summit and this year's Munich Security Conference. I warmly recall my visit to Helsinki last year. I once again reaffirm my invitation to you, Madam Minister, to visit us in your capacity as Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs on a bilateral visit. We highly appreciate the institutional support that Finland provides for strengthening democracy and resilience of Armenia. A clear manifestation of this is Finland's participation in the "Resilient Syunik" initiative. Of course, Finland's involvement is not limited to that - we have a very broad framework of cooperation, and the commitment we see from official Helsinki continues to inspire us.

Of course, for us, the Armenia-Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation format holds particular importance. We are confident that within this framework, there is much we can learn and also much we can contribute. The Nordic-Baltic countries are known for their well-established democracies, and naturally, we also hope to make our own contribution - one that may, in turn, prove valuable for our Nordic-Baltic partners as well.

We did not overlook the topic of Armenia-European Union relations. We outlined the directions in which we are currently, right now, significantly deepening our relations with the European Union both at the political level and across all other levels. Overall, within the context of European integration, we are both developing concrete plans of action and looking forward with great enthusiasm to the next summit of the European Political Community, which will take place next May in Yerevan.

Let me conclude my remarks once again by expressing my gratitude to you, Madam Minister, for your visit and for the very detailed and substantive conversation we had.