One of the most important issues on the agenda of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s upcoming visit to Armenia will be the possibility of ensuring simplified access to the EU market for our products—in particular, agricultural products, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced during a press briefing Thursday.

He emphasized the importance of the upcoming visit of the high-ranking European delegation, noting that the Armenian foreign minister’s participation in the EU Foreign Affairs Council’s recent session in Brussels opens up unique opportunities for Yerevan. Pashinyan expressed hope that the joint work on the agreement on simplifying trade barriers will be successfully completed during the negotiations with Ursula von der Leyen.

“I hope that we will be able to bring this project to the endpoint with the European Commission so that we can jointly announce it during the visit to Yerevan,” the Armenian premier noted.

In addition to trade privileges, the agenda of meetings with European officials will include regional logistics and Armenia’s prospects for integration into global routes, including the Middle Corridor, which currently passes through Azerbaijan and Georgia. Nikol Pashinyan pointed to the potential of Armenia’s “Crossroads of Peace” concept and emphasized that transport projects in the South Caucasus do not contradict or compete with each other.

“The flows are actually so huge that they cannot be served in any one direction. And that is why several routes are needed for these flows in the South Caucasus. It is time for the countries of the South Caucasus to think of the region as a single shared space where there are a lot of shared interests,” the Armenian prime minister concluded.

Ursula von der Leyen will visit Armenia on July 1; this will be her second visit to the country. The president of the European Commission will be accompanied by Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement.