Yerevan/Mediamax/. ZAR education center of the Armenian Defense Ministry held the opening ceremony on October 31.

The ceremony was attended by Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Rafik Mansour and Brigadier General Dawne Deskins, Deputy Director of Partnering and Missile Defense at U.S. European Command.

The American side co-financed construction of the center.

Vigen Sargsyan stated that the newly opened education center is an illustration of Armenian-American cooperation. The minister also shared his confidence that ZAR will advance in the future.

“Armenia should be proud of its contribution to the international peacekeeping activities. Armenian units’ work in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Lebanon show Armenia’s commitment to making the world a safer place,” said Rafik Mansour.

ZAR is the main education center of the Armenian peacekeeping brigade. The brigade holds trainings and re-training courses at the center.

ZAR will be renovated in several stages. In the first stage, the three-storey building was completely renovated. The next stages will include construction of barracks and the canteen.