YEREVAN.- 2011 was marked by expansion of high level political dialogue and cooperation with the European Union, says the 2011 report issued by Armenian MFA.

President Serzh Sargsyan attended the Eastern Partnership summit in Warsaw last September. He met with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited Brussels in March, September, November and December, while Parliament Speaker – in May.

In March, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated in the meeting of Visegrad Four (or V4 is an alliance of four Central European states-the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and foreign ministers of countries involved in EU-launched Eastern Partnership project in Bratislava.

In April, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule and Minister Nalbandian signed a memorandum to expand cooperation.

Head of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, the managing director at the EU External Action Miroslav Lajcak visited Armenia as well.

Four plenary sessions and three dozen video conferences were held within the framework of Armenia-EU Association Agreement.  

Meetings of the four thematic cooperation platforms within the framework of the Eastern Partnership project were held in spring and autumn of 2011.

Cooperation with the EU continued in particular in the fields of production, migration, trade, environment, transport, energy, education and science.

The meeting of the Armenia – EU cooperation council was held in late November under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

On December 6, Yerevan hosted the third Armenia - EU meeting on human rights.

As a result of the efforts of the Armenian side to create a free and comprehensive free trade zone, negotiations are expected to start in the first half of 2012.

On December 19 the European Council approved a mandate to start negotiations with Armenia regarding relaxation of visa regime. Talks will be launched in the coming weeks.

The EU Advisory Group continues its work in Armenia.