The outlook of the current Armenian government is an extremely positive one, and I am here to help, member of the European Parliament Frank Engel said during his visit to Yerevan.

The Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent sat down with Mr. Engel, who is member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg and newly elected chair of Luxembourg’s Christian Social People's Party, to speak about his visit and his vision of Armenia-EU relations and Eastern Partnership project.

The visit

During his visit to Yerevan, Frank Engel met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and a number of parliamentary colleagues.

“The outlook of the current government is an extremely positive one, and it is clearly supported by vast majority of the Armenian people, and I want them to succeed. I will certainly help, if I can be useful with finding contacts and investors, helping to implement their projects,” Engel told the agency when asked about the goal of his visit.

CEPA expectations

Engel believes the European Union will try to make the best of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, as much can be done in terms of governance, business contacts that can be useful for Armenians. 

“Armenia does not have that many things to export to the EU, while products form the EU are also something that is less interesting because of prices and affordability, but in all other areas we can cooperate productively. I think it [CEPA] is the best that we can do in these circumstances,” he said.

Member of the European parliament is hopeful that there will be an increased interest in Armenia and more European investments here. 

Eastern Partnership’s role

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Eastern Partnership project, and this project is something that is an important part of the EU neighborhood policy in terms of security, political and economic matters as well as migration dimension, Engel believes.

However, MEP admits that the countries involved in this project are too different, and this was one of the reasons for Eastern Partnership to face certain challenges.

“I have the impression that we have to resort more to bilateral arrangements, as all six countries are too different in their policy and their approaches. We have to do it bilaterally and in conversations and meetings with the leadership, for example to find out what Belarusian power really wants,” he said, adding that using individual approach will help in formulating principles of cooperating with each of the six countries.