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Armenian president meets Italian counterpart in Rome

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  • Armenian president meets Italian counterpart in Rome

    Armenian president meets Italian counterpart in Rome

    Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
    27 Jan 05


    [Presenter] The Italian president is ready to help Armenia integrate
    into Europe, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi said in Rome today
    during a meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan.

    Italy also intends to aid the economic development of Armenia,
    increasing bilateral trade and investment in the country.

    Ciampi and Kocharyan touched on the Karabakh settlement process. The
    Caucasus is a region of strategic importance for Europe and the danger
    of instability in the region reduces the development prospects for the
    region as a whole, the Italian president said.

    President Kocharyan met today in Rome the chairmen of the Italian
    senate and parliament and attended the Armenian-Italian business forum
    organized by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade.

    [Correspondent Lilit Setrakyan from Rome] The official reception for
    the Armenian president took place in the afternoon at the Italian
    presidential residence. After the ceremony, the two presidents
    discussed Italian-Armenian relations. They also discussed regional and
    international issues and Armenia's integration into Europe.

    During a short meeting with journalists, the Italian president noted
    that Armenia was a country close to Italians' hearts. The Italians
    were the first to render assistance to Armenia in the 1988 earthquake.

    President Ciampi said that Italy was ready to assist the economic
    development of Armenia, to increase trade and Italian investment in
    Armenia.

    Ciampi called for the continuation of constructive talks on the
    peaceful settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

    For his part, Kocharyan expressed confidence that the Armenian
    president's first official visit to Italy would promote the
    development of bilateral relations and would be a convenient
    opportunity to transfer political relations into the business
    sphere. The president stressed the importance of the Armenian-Italian
    business forum gathering in Rome, during which Italian and Armenian
    businessmen were able to assess and discuss cooperation potential. The
    Armenian president also noted that the development potential for
    Armenian-Italian relations was large as regards integration into
    Europe.

    Kocharyan outlined to Ciampi Armenia's relations with the European
    Union and the importance of this organization's "Expanded Europe: New
    Neighbours" programme for Armenia.

    Ciampi promised his country's assistance on this issue and stressed
    that the Caucasus was of strategic importance to Europe, which wishes
    to develop democracy and the economy in this region.

    The Armenian president discussed interparliamentary cooperation with
    the president of Italy's Chamber of Deputies, Pier Ferdinando Casini.

    During a meeting with Italy's Senate Speaker Marchello Pera, Kocharyan
    discussed the two countries' cooperation in the legislative
    sphere. Pera said that Italy was ready to assist in the reform of
    Armenian legislation.

    Tomorrow [28 January] Kocharyan will meet Italian Prime Minister
    Silvio Berlusconi and Pope John Paul II.
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