RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan today received the delegation headed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Armenia Pavel Cheplak.

ESCS Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan also attended the meeting.

Minister Vahram Dumanyan welcomed Ambassador Cheplak and expressed confidence that his diplomatic activities will contribute to the continued advancement of Armenian-Polish relations and the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation.

“We have good friendly relations with Poland, and we attach great importance to our cooperation in various directions,” said Vahram Dumanyan, particularly emphasizing the development of the “Cooperation Program between the Governments of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Poland in the fields of culture, science, education and sports for 2022-2026”, the draft of which is in the final phase.

The program also includes the possibility of implementing a university scholarship program, which the parties emphasized, underlining that the exchange of students is one of the best manifestations of educational cooperation and intercultural dialogue.

Ambassador Pavel Cheplak thanked for the hospitality, noting that the Polish side is also interested in implementing a practical program for 2022-2026 in the fields of culture, science, education and sports between the two countries, expressing hope that the cooperation agreement will be signed at the earliest possible date.

During the meeting, at the suggestion of the ESCS Minister, the possibilities of establishing cooperation with the RA Science Committee and the National Science Center operating under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland, the experience exchange of specialists in the field of higher education management of Poland and Armenia were discussed. The sides also considered the proposal to create an Armenian Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, which will be a new impetus for the advancement of inter-university cooperation.

Vahram Dumanyan emphasized that with the assistance of the ESCS Ministry, a program of teaching the subjects Armenian language, Armenian culture and Armenian studies is being implemented in 11 universities in 9 foreign countries today, and the expansion of this list is one of the priorities of the RA State policy.

Touching upon the perspectives of cultural cooperation, the parties discussed the possibility of holding Armenian Culture Days in Poland in 2023 and organizing an exhibition of contemporary art and an exhibition of national costumes within its framework. Considering that the 100^th anniversary of Armenian cinema will be celebrated in 2023, Minister Vahram Dumanyan suggested to his Polish counterpart to submit a proposal to the Ministry of Culture of Poland to organize an Armenian cinema week in Warsaw and Krakow.

Ambassador Pavel Cheplak highly appreciated the proposals of the Armenian side, expressing willingness to pursue their implementation.

The Ambassador also informed that as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of the Republic of Poland, the Embassy of Poland in Armenia plans to organize an exhibition in November 2022 entitled “Against the Sands: the Armenian-Polish Metsamor Expedition”, the objective of which is to present to both Armenian and foreign visitors the results of the 11- year archaeological work of the Armenian-Polish expedition in Metsamor.

The ESCS Minister also drew the Ambassador's attention to the issue of preserving the Armenian cultural heritage in the territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day war, noting that the Armenian side expects the support of the international community, including Poland, in this regard, so that Azerbaijan refrains from destroying and distorting the Armenian cultural heritage.