RA National Assembly Speaker Samvel Nikoyan received US Ambassador John Heffern.

On December 21 the RA National Assembly Speaker Samvel Nikoyan received John Heffern, US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the RA.

The NA Speaker congratulated him on the occasion of his appointment and, highly appreciating the current level of the developing Armenian-American relations, as well as the activities of the previous US Ambassadors to Armenia, noted that effective cooperation would also be expected with Mr. Heffern.

The US Ambassador thanked him for the reception and congratulated Samvel Nikoyan on the occasion of being elected NA Speaker.

At the meeting a number of issues of bilateral interest were touched upon. In particular, the holding of upcoming fair and transparent parliamentary elections was emphasized, the participation of possible wide scope of observers in them and the public notification of the election process and the Electoral Code.

Referring to the pre-electoral processes, the NA Speaker has noted that the new Electoral Code, which has enjoyed the approval of a number of international structures, gives an opportunity to hold free and fair elections, which is also highlighted by the authorities of the country.

Samvel Nikoyan has highly appreciated the upgrading and improvement of the voters' registration system in Armenia, implemented through the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) , which practically have already given their positive results.

In the course of the meeting the interlocutors also exchanged opinions over a number of other issues.