The EU and Armenia have today reconfirmed their commitment to further develop and strengthen their cooperation in all areas of mutual interest within the Eastern Partnership framework, stressing the importance of reviewing and updating the existing basis of their relations, says a joint declaration adopted by the participants of Eastern Partnership summit.

The participants welcome the conclusion of the Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements with the Republic of Armenia and look forward to their effective implementation as well as next steps towards increased mobility between the EU and Armenia.

 “The participants of the Vilnius Summit welcome the effective implementation of Mobility Partnerships in line with the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility with the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and the Republic of Armenia.

They also take note of the readiness of Armenia to start negotiations on a Common Aviation Area Agreement,” the declaration reads.

 The summit particiopants took note of Armenia’s active observership in the Energy Community and welcomed active involvement of Armenia and Belarus in the EU's nuclear stress tests.

The declaration noted that participants look forward to the imminent entry into force of the Protocol enabling Armenia’s participation in new EU programmes, at the same time mentioning EU’s macro-financial assistance provided to Armenia since September 2011.

The participants welcomed the recent meeting in Vienna between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Presidents’ agreement to advance the negotiations toward a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

They look forward to the start of negotiations on the Common Aviation Area Agreement with Armenia.

“They support the closest possible involvement in the Covenant of Mayors and welcome the decision to expand the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) to cover Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, in addition to Ukraine.”