On April 9-10th, Minister of Defence Lubomír Metnar visited Armenia. He had a call with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Defence Minister David Tonoyan and representatives of the National Assembly in Yerevan. The discussions focused on the development of bilateral cooperation and the security situation in the region. The Defence Ministers also signed an intergovernmental agreement on military technical cooperation.
Accompanied by the Czech Ambassador in Armenia Petr Mikyska and other members of the delegation, Minister Metnar began his working visit at the Ministry of Defence, where he discussed opportunities for expanding defence cooperation.
Both countries seek to follow upon the sharing of experience between the Military Police organisations, specifically in the domain of field and academic training, where the Czech Republic offers studies for Armenian military medical doctors at the Faculty of Military Health Sciences of the University of Defence in Brno. Service personnel from the Republic of Armenia and the Czech Republic also serve together under the NATO flag in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Economic cooperation
The discussions primarily focused on economic cooperation. “The trade exchange between the two countries grew by 300 per cent over the past three years and the intergovernmental agreement on military technical cooperation, which we signed today together with Minister Tonoyan, could become an impetus for a continuing growth in mutual trade,” Lubomír Metnar said.
“We highly appreciate the execution of this agreement; we have a list of companies looking forward to doing business with Czech partners. I see a great potential in sharing experience with the modernisation of equipment originating in the then Soviet Union and information technology,” David Tonoyan noted.
Call with the Prime Minister
Minister Metnar then also met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who expressed his appreciation of the deepening mutual cooperation. “For the Czech Republic, Armenia is an important partner in the South Caucasus. We concurred with the Prime Minister that the issue of Nagorno Karabakh needs to be solved at a negotiation table in a peaceful way,” Minister Metnar summed up.
On the second day of his visit, the Minister honoured the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and then he met with the Vice President of the National Assembly Ms. Lena Nazaryan and the Chairman of the Standing Committee for Defence and Security Andranik Kocharyan. The working program also included a visit of the Yerevan Computer Research and Development Institute. Armenia specifically focuses on the development of information and communication technology.
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