YEREVAN. - The European Union and Armenia today held the seventh round of human rights dialogue in Yerevan, Armenian MFA press-service reports.

The Armenian delegation was headed by Armenia’s Deputy FM Garen Nazarian, the EU Delegation being led by Ms Elisabeth Tison, Head of Human Rights Strategy and Policy Implementation Division at European External Action Service.

The sides discussed the reforms in the judicial and specifically penitentiary system; election processes and electoral code; issues related to political freedoms, civil liberties, and engagement of the civil society; anti-discrimination policy and protection of vulnerable groups, as well as the situation with the rights of the child and gender equality.

The talks also focused on the national framework for the protection of human rights and the country's commitment to achieve further progress in this area.

Apart from this, the partners touched on possibilities for cooperation within international organizations in the field of human rights, particularly at the UN, the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

Armenia and EU reconfirmed their commitment to continue their cooperation in the mentioned directions, and to promote the respect for human rights and democracy at national, regional and international level. Considering their common values, the sides underscored the importance of the EU support in promoting reforms in Armenia.

The Armenia-EU human rights dialogue was established in December 2009. Since then, the meetings are convened once a year, alternately in Yerevan and Brussels.