News
Show news feed

YEREVAN. – Armenia is a very important partner of the European Union (EU), European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said Saturday during his joint news conference with Armenia’s President, Serzh Sargsyan.  

Pointing to Armenia’s rich heritage, Barroso stressed the country’s role in the enhancement of world civilization. “At the same time Armenia has set its sights on a bright future,” the European Commission head noted and, in this context, he recalled President Sargsyan’s visit to Brussels in March.  

Also, José Manuel Barroso attested to the progress in the talks on the Armenia-EU Association Agreement and the establishment of the Armenia-EU Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Zone, and expressed a hope that the two documents will be prepared before the Vilnius Summit to be convened at the end of 2013. 

In addition, he recalled the initialing—on October 18 in Brussels—of the Armenia-EU agreements on visa relaxation and readmission. As per Barroso, the first of these documents will be signed next May and, subsequently, the second agreement will be authorized. 

The President of the European Commission spoke positively about Armenia’s reforms and noted that some of the EU assistance provided to Armenia was of advisory nature. In José Manuel Barroso’s words, EU appreciates Armenia’s reforms yet it is aware of the respective challenges the country faces and, in its turn, it stands ready to assist Armenia in surmounting these challenges.        

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am

!
This text available in   Հայերեն and Русский
Print