The opening ceremony of the implementation phase of the EU program "Support to reforms of law enforcement bodies and security sector in Armenia" was held. It is announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The main objective of the program is to support Armenia in the implementation of reforms in the fields of law enforcement and security, in line with the priorities set within the framework of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between the EU and Armenia.

The project was officially launched in May of this year and is scheduled to be completed by the end of April 2025. The budget of the project is 2.2 million euros, which was formed as a result of the joint investment of the European Union and the Republic of Lithuania.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia Vasilis Maragos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania Andrius Pulokas, Chief Commissioner-General of the Lithuanian Police Renatas Pozhela, Director of the Central Project Management Agency Lidia Kashubiene, members of the project team, Head Tomas, participated in the launch event. led by Bikmanas and experts.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan noted in the opening speech that the Ministry of Internal Affairs highly appreciates the EU's continuous support for police reforms since their inception and thanked the governments of the Republics of Latvia and Lithuania, which submitted an application to support the reforms of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs within the framework of this EU support program.

Arpine Sargsyan noted that as a result of close cooperation with the EU, significant progress has been made in a number of directions under the mandate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, particularly addressing the areas of migration and citizenship, police and disaster risk management.

He emphasized that the officially launched program is a bright indicator of the MIA-EU bilateral readiness to strengthen the achievements recorded within the framework of the RA-EU partnership and guarantee results in new directions.

In his speech, Sargsyan also noted that the program, according to the MIA needs assessment matrix, includes actions in four main directions: capacity development of MIA staff, institutional reforms in the field of disaster risk management, including the rescue service, institutional and legal reforms in the police field, as well as reforms and modernization of the migration and citizenship service sector.

Within the framework of the work plan of the project, special importance was given to planning such actions aimed at increasing the quality of public services provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and subordinate bodies and ensuring the effectiveness of communication with the public.

For this purpose, completely new standards for the quality of service delivery and the continuous assessment of public perception and impact will be established. Sargsyan expressed confidence that the collaborative work of the program team will enable to achieve the set goal in all the targeted directions.

Welcoming the participants of the meeting, Vasilis Maragos, the head of the delegation of the European Union in Armenia, highly appreciated the efforts aimed at the formation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Armenia and the implementation of reforms in the field of coordination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Maragos recorded the positive results already registered in the initial stage of the reforms, in particular, he referred to the introduction of patrol service in the regions of the republic, the academic education of the employees, and the increase in the level of technical staffing. According to him, the reforms envisaged by this program implemented within the framework of the support of the European Union will contribute to the formation of a more citizen-centric Ministry of Internal Affairs and subordinate bodies, which will be able to effectively respond to any public problem.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania Andrius Pulokas, in his turn, noted that the program is also a good opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations and expand the cooperation agenda.

The opening speech was also made by Chief Commissioner-General of the Lithuanian Police Renatas Požela, Director of the Central Program Management Agency Lidia Kasubiene, who, welcoming the attendees and thanking them for the warm reception and cooperation, spoke about the importance of reforms and expressed their readiness to continue their support.

The head of the project team, Thomas Bikmanas, spoke about the first meeting of the coordinating committee held on September 18, during which the details of the 2-year project were discussed, in particular, the main goals, priorities, and all the activities planned in the work plan were presented.

It should also be noted that before the meeting, the project coordinating committee approved the work plan of the project.