On November 6, the Deputy Minister of IA-Director of RS Kamo Tsutsulyan received a delegation from France including representatives from the Security and Defence Cooperation Directorate belonging to the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Security Attaché of the Ministry of the Interior of France, the Operational Security Advisor of the French Embassy and an international technical expert.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Director of the Rescue Service Tigran Petrosyan.

Welcoming the delegation, Kamo Tsutsulyan expressed his gratitude for the longstanding friendly relations with Armenia, the established effective cooperation and the support provided. The Director of the Rescue Service presented the ongoing reforms within the Rescue Service of MIA and emphasized the importance of the support from French experts in the development and modernization of the service. He highlighted the priorities in the areas of civil defense and population protection, as well as disaster risk management.

The representative of the Security and Defence Cooperation Directorate within the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Dordhain expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and emphasized the importance of the steady development of bilateral cooperation. He noted that the presence of a highly qualified French expert in Armenia was aimed at supporting the ongoing reforms within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for the benefit of the development of the population protection field in the Republic of Armenia.

During the discussions, the parties addressed the disasters threatening the region, particularly forest fires and floods.

Director of the Rescue Service presented the damage caused by the catastrophic floods in Lori and Tavush provinces in May 2024, focusing on the activities and high preparedness of the Rescue Service departments.

During the meeting, among other topics, issues related to the improvement of the crisis management system were discussed. Kamo Tsutsulyan mentioned that two centers such as the Crisis Management National Center of the Rescue Service and the Operational Management Center of the Police currently operate within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He emphasized that as part of the reforms, the integration of these two centers is planned to ensure a centralized management process, which will enable the effective organization of complementary and specialized activity. The discussion also included the idea of merging the educational institutions operating within the Ministry of Internal Affairs into a single unified educational complex.

At the end of the meeting, the guests visited the Crisis Management National Center of the Rescue Service, where they were introduced to the structure, operations, technical equipment and the functions carried out by the Center.