The third international conference for the alumni of Moscow State Institute for International Affairs serves as a good opportunity to exchange views on the current issues in international relations. This is what RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan said in his speech at the conference that was launched at the Karen Demirtchyan Sport and Concert Complex, according to Panorama.am.

Talking particularly about the current situation and terrorism in the Near East, Nalbandyan mentioned that they are challenges for all civilized mankind.

According to the minister, Armenians live in all countries of the Near East and form an inseparable part of the multiethnic and multi-religious picture.

The minister also mentioned that Armenia has received 17,000 refugees from Syria alone.

“The situation facing Armenian communities and ethnic minorities in the Near East must always be our concern,” the minister said.

Nalbandyan attached importance to the regulation of the situation created in Iran and mentioned that Iran’s economic development would essentially change the situation in the entire region.

The foreign minister also attached importance to the role of economic unions in all parts of the world. “Experts are trying to determine to what extent this or that state wins by joining any economic union, but it is also necessary to clarify how much a state will lose by not joining an economic union, which is another way of gaining economic opportunities.”

Talking about Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union in January of this year and the EEU in general, he said accession gives the member states more power for economic development.

In his speech, Nalbandyan also mentioned the high-level relations between China and Armenia.