https://en.armradio.am-Siranush Ghazanchyan
Senate Speaker Gérard Larcher will visit Armenia from April 23-26, 2021, at the invitation of the Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly.
He will be accompanied by the President of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee, Senator Christian Cambon, Senators Bruno Retailleau, Patrick Kanner, Hervé Marseille, Éliane Assassi and Guillaume Gontard, and the President of the France-Armenia Friendship Group, Senator Gilbert ‑ Luc Devinaz.
This trip takes place on the occasion of the commemoration of the Armenian genocide on April 24, which this year has a special resonance: it takes place in a very painful context for Armenia, after the brutal offensive of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the fall of 2020.
The Senate adopted, on November 25, 2020, by a large majority a resolution of solidarity with Armenia and the Armenian population. It called on the French Government to “recognize the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, and to make this recognition an instrument of negotiations with a view to establishing a lasting peace.”
The year 2021 also marks the 20th anniversary of the law passed by the French Parliament, at 1st reading in the Senate, on France’s recognition of the Armenian genocide of 1915, under the presidency of Jacques Chirac.
The delegation will hold meetings with President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Senate Speaker will visit the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to meet with the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II.
“Visiting Armenia, this year in particular, when this country is in dire need of a reaffirmation of France’s friendship and support, seemed obvious to me,” said President Larcher. “France does not forget. It knows all that it owes to its citizens whose roots lie in the land of Armenia.”