YEREVAN. – Along the lines of his working visit to Brussels, Armen Ashotyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, on Tuesday had meetings with his colleagues at the European Parliament.
During his talk with Sajjad Karim, Co-Chair of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC), the parties touched upon the results of the 17th Meeting of the EU-Armenia PCC that took place in December 2017, and discussed the agenda items of the parliamentary cooperation, the NA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. The priorities of EU-Armenia cooperation in the current year, and the joint actions and programs aimed at the development of relations also were highlighted.
Reflecting the current level of the parliamentary cooperation, the sides stressed the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement provisions which relate to the transformation of the existing ways of parliamentary cooperation to a partnership format. In this context, the role of parliamentary oversight mechanisms and the efforts towards their effective use were highlighted.
Chairman of the Armenian NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations met also with Sandra Kalniete, Vice Chairwoman of the European People’s Party (EPP) Political Group of the European Parliament. The priorities of political cooperation at bilateral level were discussed at this meeting. With regards to the ongoing reforms in Armenia, they emphasized the principle of inclusiveness of the social component. The priority role of parliamentary partnership in ensuring a climate of trust also was underscored.
Within the framework of his four-day visit to the Belgian capital city, Armen Ashotyan met also with Cristian Dan Preda, Coordinator of the Foreign Affairs of the EPP Faction. During this talk, the sides highlighted the recent signing of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and the provision of its ratification in a fluent process at national parliaments. In this regard, Ashotyan noted: “We expect that the European Parliament will ratify the new Agreement with Armenia before the European Parliament elections in 2019.”
The interlocutors also discussed the challenges of regional security and the productive cooperation between parliamentarians.
