Czech President pledges to support Armenia in reducing its economic dependence on Russia

The Czech Republic will seek to support Armenia in reducing its economic dependence on Russia and diversifying its economic relations. An Armenpress correspondent reports from Prague.

Czech President Petr Pavel made the statement during a joint press conference following his meeting with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan at the presidential residence.

The Czech president said he welcomes Armenia’s efforts to reduce its economic dependence on Russia. He stressed that Russia uses its influence to exert pressure on neighboring countries and prevents them from expanding their relations with other countries.

“Armenia is heavily dependent on the Russian market, and we will try to support the country so that it can reduce this dependence,” Pavel said, recalling that the Council of the European Union had decided the previous day to liberalize access to the EU market for around 80 percent of goods exported from Armenia by eliminating customs duties on those goods for a period of two years.

The Czech president said he sees potential for cooperation with Armenia in a number of areas, including energy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and security.

“We are focusing on these issues during our meetings, and I hope that we will have concrete results in the near future,” Pavel said.

The meeting between Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Czech President Petr Pavel took place on September 3 at the presidential residence, Prague Castle. The one-on-one meeting was followed by discussions in an expanded format with the participation of the delegations.

Following the presidents’ joint press conference, Vahagn Khachaturyan met with President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vystrčil at the Wallenstein Palace. The meeting was also attended by the Senate vice-presidents and the chairs of the committees on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security, and EU Affairs.

The discussions will then continue in the Chamber of Deputies, where President Khachaturyan will be welcomed by Chamber of Deputies Speaker Tomio Okamura.

The official visit also includes a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community in the Czech Republic, as well as an event titled “Solidarity: Commemorating Czech Support to Armenia Following the 1988 Earthquake.”

As part of the event planned at the Rothmayer Hall of Prague Castle, a meeting is scheduled with firefighters who took part in a rescue mission in Armenia following the devastating earthquake of December 7, 1988, as well as with organizers of the humanitarian fundraising campaign.