Wednesday, 26 January 2005
A Prime Minister A. Margaryan-headed Armenian delegation has arrived in the Republic of Poland (Krakow) to attend the ceremony of the 60th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The delegation is comprised of Mr. Ruben Shugaryan, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, heads of various departments of the Office of Government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Later today the Prime Minister and the members of the delegation visited the Cardinal's Residence at Krakow where they had a meeting with Cardinal Francziszek Macharski, Archbishop of Krakow. The Armenian Prime Minister thanked the Cardinal for his significant contribution to the development of relationship between Poland and Armenia and his several activities to the benefit of the Armenian community of Poland and forwarded to the Most Reverend Cardinal the Medal of Mekhitar Gosh in compliance with the decree issued by the President of the Republic of Armenia. In noting that the Polish-Armenian relationship had a centuries-long history, Mr. A. Margaryan emphasized the efforts underway on either side for the revival and strengthening of the existing traditions. The Prime Minister indicated that the participation of a delegation from Armenia in the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Auswitz liberation was not at all fortuitous as he saw strong parallels between this scourge committed against humanity and the genocide of Armenians perpetrated early last century, the 90th anniversary of which was due in 2005. In his word of thanks, Cardinal Macharski thanked the people of Armenia for honoring him with such a high award and went on to stress that the Armenian-Polish centuries-long friendship had both cultural and social-economic grounding. The cardinal emphasized the need in further strengthening the ties between the two Christian peoples.
During the meeting, representatives from the Union of the Armenian Art Supporters handed in souvenirs and flowers to the Prime Minister and his spouse, as well as to the Cardianl of Krakow. The meeting had started with the singing of Armenia's national anthem performed by the pupils of Krakow
