Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who was in Belgium on a working visit, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday made statements for mass media representatives, following their talks in Brussels.
“I would like to thank President Juncker and the EU leadership for the warm welcome and constructive discussions,” Pashinyan stated, in particular. “Today we had very fruitful discussions on the current state of the Armenia-EU partnership, particularly in the context of the irreversible democratic transformations that took place in Armenia last spring.
“I stressed once again the strong commitment of Armenia’s new leadership towards the consolidation of the rule of law, promotion of democracy, uncompromising fight against corruption, as well as artificial monopolies, economic preferentialism and oligarchy, while ensuring full and free exercise of fundamental rights by the people of Armenia.
“At the same time, it is axiomatic that in order to keep the democracy viable in any country, we need strong and viable economy. For this reason, the next step for us is the reinforcement of those democratic transformations by further revolutionary changes and reforms in our economy. This is one of the primary goals and the cornerstones of our Government’s new Program.
“The European Union is our key trade partner and the biggest donor. During our talks I shared with President Juncker the vision of our Government and our priorities, around which we had useful exchanges. My current visit and meetings with the EU leadership demonstrated our increased mutual interest and readiness to deepen our partnership.
“I am glad to note that we have a common understanding with President Juncker that we should continue and deepen our cooperation with the European Union in tackling mentioned problems and bringing into life the ambitious reform agenda of our Government, with the EU’s enhanced political, technical and financial support. In this regard the new Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement is an important platform.
“The leadership of Armenia has demonstrated on numerous occasions its commitment and political will towards the effective implementation of this document.
“In the course of our meeting we also discussed the ways to expedite the ratification process by the EU Member States, which will allow us to fully benefit from the opportunities envisaged by the CEPA.
“Together with our European colleagues, the interagency commission tasked with the coordination of the implementation of the CEPA and the EU-Armenia Partnership Priorities document will soon finalize the CEPA implementation roadmap. Concurrently, the government-civil society consultations on the Road Map are about to be launched.
“We regard the CEPA in general and the Roadmap in particular as an essential blueprint for the reforms process in our country.
“During all my meetings with the EU leadership we discussed the importance of launching a visa liberalization dialogue, which remains an issue of top priority in our bilateral relations. I have also solicited President Juncker’s personal facilitation in this matter.
“I also highlighted that the Armenian government is resolved to the steady implementation of the "20 Deliverables for 2020" document and efficient delivery of its results.
“We also touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh peace process. I expressed our appreciation towards the EU’s continuous balanced position on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which supports the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, their position and efforts for the peaceful resolution.
“We also reflected on a number of regional and global developments.
“To sum up, I would like to once again emphasize the high level of our political dialogue, the atmosphere of mutual understanding and partnership that prevails in our relations with the European Union.
“I would like to once again thank you President Junker for the warm welcome and positive dialogue.”
