“Germany will support Armenia” - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Armenia on a two-day official visit. She was met by the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Yerevan airport.

Info: Armenia and Germany established diplomatic relations in 1992. Since then, relations between Yerevan and Berlin have grown dynamically. The trade turnover between the countries amounted to USD 339 million in 2017. Germany is one of Armenia’s five top trade and economic partners.

JAMnews presents all the details of the visit in chronological order.

Chancellor Merkel made her first trip off the tarmac to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. She laid flowers at the fire and planted a tree in the alley of memory.

•  In 2016, the Bundestag adopted a resolution on the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

“In accordance with the letter and spirit of this resolution, I visited Tsitsernakaberd today. We are aware of what terrible events occurred in 1915. This fact should not be forgotten. This issue is not a legal problem for me,” Merkel said a few hours later to journalists.

She then met with Armenian President Armen Sargsyan.

“We want to participate in the reforms in Armenia, closely follow the changes and processes that took place in your country this spring. We are ready to continue cooperation on this difficult though important road,” Merkel said.

She also visited the Tumo Creative Technologies Centre for a chat with teenagers who are learning animation, game development, robotics and programming at the facility.

Thereafter she visited PicsArt, Armenia’s biggest start-up.

She concluded her first day in Armenia after a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The meeting was followed by a joint press conference.

Merkel said that Germany will do everything in its power to promote the issue of liberalization of the visa policy for the citizens of Armenia:

“You know that for citizens of Georgia and Ukraine, who have an association agreement with the European Union, the visa-free policy is already in effect. This issue is closely connected with migration policy. We expect progress on this issue, and we, on our part, will do everything possible to achieve this progress.”

Merkel also re-confirmed that Germany is ready to contribute to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict:

“Germany is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, and we talked about the importance of resolving the Karabakh problem in a good atmosphere. Germany will support Armenia in this issue.”

Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasized that Yerevan does not build relations with any country at the expense of relations with another:

“We said that after the ‘velvet’ revolution there will be no reverse in foreign policy. We intend to, and are realizing this intention. [We intend to] develop relations with Russia, including within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Organization of the Collective Security Treaty [both structures operate under the auspices of Russia – JAMnews]. However, we are also developing relations with EU countries, in particular, Germany. We do not see here the need for contradictions and balances.”

From Yerevan, Angela Merkel will leave for Baku.