German and Armenian military intensify their bilateral defense cooperation

German and Armenian military officials reportedly agreed yesterday to intensify their bilateral defense cooperation as an important component to intensify relations of Armenia with NATO.

The Deputy Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and other senior Armenian officials and a delegation of the German Federal Ministry of Defence would have considered this cooperation during two days of talks in Yerevan.

According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, they have developed a joint plan of German-Armenian activities for next year. “They have reached an agreement to maintain the momentum of development of cooperation in order to improve the level of interoperability,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said the military relations between the two countries through the support of Germany for defense reforms being implemented by Yerevan, the Armenian military training personnel and the participation of Armenia led mission NATO in Afghanistan.

Armenian soldiers serving under German command in Afghanistan in 2010, many of them have also undergone short courses in Germany prior to deployment.

“I want to emphasize the productive cooperation of Armenia with Germany, which is an excellent example of the interaction between the members and partners of NATO states,” said President Serzh Sarkisian in a speech during a NATO summit in Wales last week. Sargsyan said that Armenian troops had gained “invaluable experience” in Afghanistan.