Francophone students of the YSU Faculty of International Relations met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia, Olivier Decottignies. During the meeting, the Ambassador delivered a lecture, followed by the summarization of the results of the essay competition organized by the Yerevan State University in cooperation with the "SPFA" French organization.
The essay competition under the title "If All the Young People of the World..." was organized through the joint efforts of the French charitable organization "SPFA" and the YSU Faculty of International Relations, sponsored by "Nouvelles de Flandre" magazine, the "Richelieu International Europe" organization and the French charitable organization "SPFA". The competition winners were Nare Harutyunyan, a 1st-year undergraduate student from the YSU Faculty of International Relations, Arpine Poghosyan, an 11th-grade student from High School № 1 Named After Aksel Bakunts in Goris, and Liana Aleksanyan, a 3rd-year undergraduate student from the YSU Faculty of International Relations, taking the first, second and third places, respectively.
Tigran Yepremyan, Dean of the YSU Faculty of International Relations, emphasized the significance of the ambassador's visit to YSU, as well as the friendly relations between the two countries and their mutual understanding of each other's culture and language, and noted that French is the language of science, diplomacy, philosophy, the "mother tongue" of Europe, therefore, the comprehensive study of French is important and necessary.
"We have friendly relations with France․ French culture, the French are very close to our hearts. Armenian-French cooperative ties have been strong since the period of Cilician Armenia," emphasized the dean of the faculty.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Armenia, Olivier Decottignies, delivered a lecture titled "Modern French-Armenian Relations and Their Prospects". Reflecting on the centuries-old history of Armenian-French relations, the ambassador noted that Armenia is a friendly country that France has always supported and continues to support in various issues. The ambassador presented the current state of relations between the two countries and the expanding areas of cooperation.
It should be noted that Alexander Margarov, Head of the International Cooperation Office, interested students and professors were present at the meeting.
The lecture ended with a question-and-answer session, during which students asked the speaker questions about international cooperation, regional issues and responsibilities, duties, and powers of ambassadors.
Cooperation between the YSU and the "SPFA" organization spans over decades marked by events, discussions and meetings organized for students to enrich their knowledge of French and to explore French culture and the country.
