Next year, Armenia`s foreign office to focus on neutralizing external  threats and creating safe environment - minister

ArmInfo. Next year, the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia will be mainly aimed at neutralizing external threats and creating a safe environment, Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan stated on November 3 during discussions in the commissions of Armenia's National Assembly on the draft state budget of the country for 2024.

According to him, the current year cannot be called successful in a  number of areas, since the situation did not develop as we would  like. As an example, Mirzoyan cited the mass migration of people from  Nagorno- Karabakh, which occurred due to the policy of ethnic  cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan, as a result of which today over  100 thousand compatriots have found refuge in the country. The  solution to their problems, including with the involvement of  international mechanisms, partially lies with the Armenian Foreign  Ministry. The main task is to expand international assistance to  refugees. "There is no country in the world that, having received  thousands of refugees within 3-4 days, went through this period  without shocks," the minister said, adding that the quick response of  the Armenian government to solving the problems of internally  displaced persons surprised many states and international  organizations.

Mirzoyan emphasized that the policy of ethnic cleansing and the  influx of refugees was an attempt to shift the attention of the  Armenian authorities from the main agenda - ensuring a sustainable  and stable security environment around the state. Among the main  components of this agenda, the minister pointed to peace in the  region, which includes normal relations with all four neighbors.  Mirzoyan noted that despite the presence of threats and challenges,  there are also enormous opportunities to achieve the goal, but it is  necessary to move towards it exclusively through peaceful means. In  this regard, he pointed to the hopes that were available from the  meeting in Granada. Unfortunately, the President of Azerbaijan  considered his participation in it inappropriate. "As a result of the  quadripartite meeting in Granada, a document was adopted that, by and  large, corresponds to the peace agenda of the Armenian authorities,  as well as to conclude a peace treaty," the minister said, adding  that the sixth round of negotiations with Azerbaijan on the peace  treaty is already underway.

The minister noted that the priorities include mutual recognition of  the territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the guideline  for which should be the data of the Soviet encyclopedia, namely: 29.8  thousand sq. km. the territory of Armenia and 86.6 thousand sq. km of  the territory of Azerbaijan. These territories existed in Soviet  times, and were enshrined in the Almaty Declaration of 1991. It is  also necessary to carry out a process of delimitation and demarcation  of borders, which can be carried out on the basis of the most recent  maps of the Soviet period 1972-1978. Another principle concerns the  unblocking of economic and transport communications of the region.  Armenia, as the minister noted, is the most interested country in  implementing this principle. At the same time, all transport  communications must be under the jurisdiction of the countries  through whose territories they pass. In addition, unblocking  communications should be based on the principles of reciprocity and  equality.