# Eduard Nalbandyan

Eduard Aghvani Nalbandian (Armenian: Էդվարդ Աղվանի Նալբանդյան; born July 16, 1956) is an Armenian former diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia from April 2008 to May 2018. He is currently a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

## Biography

Edward Nalbandian was born in 1956 in Yerevan, Armenian SSR. At the age of 22 he graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 1988 he received his Ph.D. in political science from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR National Academy of Sciences. Nalbandian speaks Armenian, French, English, Russian and Arabic. He is married and has a daughter.

## Diplomatic career

Nalbandian started his diplomatic career in 1978. After obtaining his doctorate degree in political science, Nalbandian was sent first to Lebanon as a diplomat and then, in 1986, appointed First Secretary of the USSR Embassy in Egypt. In 1982, Nalbandian was the youngest diplomat in the Soviet Union to be awarded the highest diplomatic medal for his service, the Peoples Friendship Medal, the USSR's third highest honor. When Armenia became independent, Nalbandian was invited to become Armenia's representative in Egypt. Thus, in 1992 Edward Nalbandian joined the diplomatic service of newly independent Armenia as Chargé d'Affaires and later in 1994 as Ambassador of Armenia to Egypt. From Cairo he was also accredited as Armenia's Ambassador to Morocco and Oman. By October 1992, Nalbandian had established an embassy in Cairo–one of the first embassies Armenia opened.
In 1999 Nalbandian was appointed as Ambassador to France, where he served for almost a decade. This period marked the flourishing of Armenian-French interstate relations, marked notably by the state visits of the Presidents and the Year of Armenia in France. Edward Nalbandian also served as non-resident Ambassador to Israel, the Vatican and Andorra, and he was personal representative of the President of Armenia to the International organization of La Francophonie from 2006–2008. Edward Nalbandian represented Armenia in several dozens of international conferences and summits.
After Serzh Sargsyan took office as president, he appointed Nalbandian as Foreign Minister from April 14, 2008, till May 2018.
After leaving office, Nalbandian became a professor at the Department for Diplomatic Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

## Honors, Honorary titles and awards

Edward Nalbandian has received a number of awards, among them:
* 1982 – The USSR award of Friendship of Nations
* 2001 – Commander of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic
* 2001 – Armenian Medal of Mkhitar Gosh for significant services in the sphere of diplomacy
* 2003 – Saint Gregory's Grand Cross Order of Holy See
* 2011 – Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneur
* 2012 – 2nd degree medal “For Services Contributed to the Motherland”
* 2014 – Honorary Doctorate degree of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) for his contribution to strengthening international security, and his ongoing contribution to Russia-Armenia relations.
* 2015 – La Grande Médaille de la Ville de Paris
* 2015 – 1st degree medal “For Services Contributed to the Motherland”, Armenia
* 2016 – Gold Medal of the Human Rights League of Spain
* 2016 – "Order of Friendship" of the Russian Federation
* 2016 – Order Pro Merito Melitensi, The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
* 2016 – Honorary Professor of Yerevan State University.
* 2017 – Russian Order of Friendship awarded by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for his great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation with Russia.