YEREVAN. – The EU Centre in Armenia on Friday launched a new initiative – monthly meetings for journalists.

EU- Armenia relations and the EU-Armenia Association Agreement were discussed with guest speakers from the EU Delegation in Armenia and Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Traian Hristea emphasized in his welcoming speech the important role of journalists in awareness raising about the EU-Armenia relations.

“Journalism is in fact history on the run, and EU-Armenia relations are part of that history,” the Ambassador said. He added that media is the main channel to inform people how the EU is cooperating with Armenia.

The first series of the meetings is called “The Road to Vilnius” to mark the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Vilnius at the end of November. The meetings will be organised on monthly basis.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan while presenting the overview of the state of play in the negotiations on the Association Agreement said that there are rather more professional journalists in Armenia and nothing goes unnoticed. “Association Agreement needs to be explained to the Armenian people, and journalists are our main partners in fulfilling this task”, the Deputy Minister said.

The format of the meeting was informal to encourage questions that led to open discussion as an opportunity to learn more of the background.

The EU Centre is the main feature of the EU funded project “Support to EU communication on reforms in Armenia”.