Prime Minister Fiala received the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikola Pashinyan, at the Kramář Villa

On Thursday, 4 May, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, received the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikola Pashinyan, at the Kramář Villa. During the meeting, they mainly discussed the possibilities of further trade and economic cooperation and signed a Joint Declaration on bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Armenia, which, for example, mentions a common view on human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles.

Prime Minister Fiala reminded that this year marks 30 years since the beginning of bilateral relations, which are at the excellent level. The Czech Prime Minister appreciated that the European Parliament's report from March this year identifies Armenia as a leader of democracy in its region. 

“Today, at the meeting with the Prime Minister, we agreed that we very much appreciate the fact that our relations are friendly, that we share common democratic values and we also confirmed this by signing the Joint Declaration on Bilateral Relations. We both also hope to expand our cooperation at various levels,” said Prime Minister Fiala. 

Armenia is one of the priority countries of the Czech Transition Cooperation Programme. It focuses in particular on supporting active civil society, human rights and independent media. The Czech Republic sees potential in further developing economic cooperation and cooperation in science, research and education.

“Czech scientists are involved in improving the safety of the Metsamor nuclear power plant. Our company Škoda JS is involved in its regular maintenance. And this is also an example of our close cooperation. The Czech Republic can also offer Armenia a number of information technologies, for example in the smart cities sector, which we presented at the conference organised by the Czech Presidency of the EU Council for the Eastern Partnership countries,” said Prime Minister Fiala. 

Cooperation is also developing in the aerospace industry. The plan to produce small aircraft is going very well by the Czech company Balus Tech, which is reconstructing the airport in Stepanavan, Armenia, which was destroyed by the earthquake, and is planning its own production there. In the field of education, the Armenian Arts and Culture Cabinet was opened at Masaryk University in Brno in February this year, and Armenian language teaching at Charles University has also been restored since 2014.  

Prime Minister Fiala also said that the Czech Republic does not close its eyes to the problems Armenia is facing: “We are aware of the difficult geopolitical, geographical and historical situation.  We are concerned about the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh caused by the blockade of the Lachin corridor. We fully agree with the position of the European Union here and we need to take all steps that will lead to sustainable peace and stability in the South Caucasus,” concluded Prime Minister Fiala.