Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today in Berlin. After welcoming Pashinyan and his delegation to Germany, the two made issued statements before they retired for a series of private talks. What follows is an unofficial translation of the transcript released by Pashinyan’s office regarding those statements.

Angela Merkel:

I once again warmly welcome the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. We had an opportunity to meet, and since then the ties between our two countries have become more intense. Today we will talk about the deepening of our bilateral relations.

Major changes are currently taking place in Armenia. Great changes are also expected in the legal system. It is not an easy process, but we wish Armenia success in those steps.

As I said before, our relations have intensified. When I was in Armenia, I visited the Tumo Center and was very excited about what I saw. An agreement has been signed to open the Tumo Center in Germany and we will be able to open it in Berlin this fall.

Last October we had an economic forum, and it opened a new branch in German-Armenian relations. And we express our gratitude for Armenia's intense cooperation with us in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

Armenia has signed an agreement with the European Union. At the same time, it is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, and we still must work hard for the cooperation of the two unions.

One of the important issues of today's discussion is the topic of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. Mr. Prime Minister will continue his trip to Munich. We are grateful and happy to be here today.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan:

Dear Mrs. Chancellor,

Distinguished representatives of the media,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I wish to state that we have been meeting with Mrs. Chancellor for the third time since my tenure of one and a half years. This is a very telling fact, which testifies to the high level of our relations.

Germany is Armenia's close friend and partner, and we feel the power of that friendship both emotionally and practically. Germany is one of the powerful bridges that connect Armenia with the European Union, European civilization and culture.

Today I can state with confidence that our friendship is based on shared values. They unite our two countries and serve as a reliable basis for cooperation in various fields.

I am pleased to note that today we are also linked by mutually beneficial cooperation and business plans. We are ready to do everything possible to further strengthen and advance it. We will soon have the opportunity to discuss our cooperation agenda with Mrs. Merkel.

I would like to emphasize Germany's support for reforms in Armenia. We are grateful for the moral, political, expert and financial support of Germany and the European Union. It is essential to ensure the irreversibility of democracy in our country and to strengthen the rule of law for this purpose and to reform economic and political institutions.

Overall, I would like to emphasize another aspect of our interest in relations with Germany. You know that since 2018 Armenia has transitioned to a parliamentary system of government and Germany is a very important and successful model for us as an effective, strong parliamentary government with clear counterbalance and compromise mechanisms. In this regard, our relations with Germany are very important, and today we are going to talk to Mrs. Chancellor about the current developments in Armenia and our reform agenda, including, as we have said before, about making democracy in Armenia institutionally strong and irreversible. This is very important conversation.

In general, in the context of cooperation with Germany, I would like to highlight the activities of the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and the German Development Bank (KfW) in our country.

We will dedicate a significant portion of our meeting to the economic agenda that has made significant progress over the last one and a half years. In this context, we attach importance to the scheduled meetings of the Armenian-German intergovernmental commission. I am glad that the visit of the delegation of German businessmen to Armenia is planned in late February, and in October, the German Economic Union will hold the conference "Armenia-Germany Economic Forum 2020". We are very much interested in German companies coming to Armenia.

We will also discuss cultural, scientific and educational cooperation with Mrs. Chancellor. It is important for us to provide Germany's leading educational experience. We are keenly interested in the further spread of German language and culture in Armenia. We are hopeful that in 2017 The Goethe Center in Yerevan will open in December and will soon become a full-fledged institute.

In conclusion, let me state that today that Armenian-German relations are at their highest level ever.