AGHVERAN. – The first ever Training Course of the EU in Armenia Club was held from February 21 to 23 in Aghveran, Armenia.

Head of the EU Delegation, Ambassador Traian Hristea and Deputy Minister of Economy Garegin Melkonyan opened the event.

Ambassador Hristea noted that the Joint Declaration of the Vilnius summit points out that the main focus will be put on advancing political, economic and social reforms and improving protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“In this light, both the EU and Armenia reconfirmed the need to revisit the basis of our bilateral relations as well as to update the Armenia Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan to adjust it to the extent and ambitions of our future cooperation,” the Ambassador said. He added that both sides are committed to further cooperation aimed at continuous improvement of democratic institutions and judiciary, the promotion of human rights and rule of law, good governance, fight against corruption, and strengthening of the civil society.

The Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation, Hoa-Binh Adjemian spoke about the content and scope of the EU-Armenia development cooperation.

The keynote lecturer was EU foreign policy researcher of the Centre of European Policy Studies Hrant Kostanyan who intrigued listeners with his thoughts on “Armenia-EU relations: how far we drift apart?” that was followed by heated panel discussion with participants.

The highlighted topic of the course was migration. The Team Leader of the EU Centre Ehtel Halliste introduced the visa facilitation and readmission agreements between the EU and Armenia that came into force on January 1, 2014. Project Director of the Targeted Initiative for Armenia, Virginie Artot, presented her project.

All the participants will receive a certificate of the “Fellow of the EU in Armenia Club” that will be handed over on Wednesday at the EU Centre by the Head of the EU Delegation.

The “EU in Armenia Club” was established to encourage the development of influential and knowledgeable alumni. The club's activities will include engaging training and useful networking events for senior officials and distinguished representatives of the Armenian society. The aim of the training courses is to spread reliable information about EU-Armenia relations and cooperation.

The participants were senior officials from the Armenian government, Members of Parliament, leading journalists, representatives of civil society organizations, academic, business and religious circles, youth organizations, and students.