Estonian Refugee Council to open office in Yerevan - Mirzoyan

YEREVAN, December 13. /ARKA/. The Estonian Refugee Council will open an office in Yerevan today, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a joint press briefing with his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna.

"I would like to thank the Estonian government for participating in the process aimed at meeting the basic needs of Nagorno-Karabakh refugees, as well as for the assistance provided to us," Mirzoyan said.

One of the topics of talks with the Armenian leadership is visa liberalization for Armenia, Margus Tsakhkna said.

He minister expressed hope that the sides will be able to move to the next stage of discussions on the issue as early as next year.

"Another issue is political cooperation. Armenia needs to be ready to work on joining the EU. It is difficult, we had been working on it for several decades," Tsahkna said.

After the large-scale Azerbaijani offensive on September 19, the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accepted the ceasefire proposal.

As a result of negotiations with the Azerbaijani side, the Karabakh president issued a decree on September 28 to dissolve all state institutions and disband the armed forces. From January 1, 2024 the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will cease to exist.

Nagorno-Karabakh residents fearing persecution left their homes en masse, heading for Armenia. -0-