Today the EU-Armenia Partnership Council held its third session in Brussels, and the Armenian delegation attending the session was led by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ara Aivazian.

During the session, parties of Armenia and the European Union exchanged views on the course of implementation of the Armenian government’s reforms in the sectors of democracy, rule of law and human rights protection.

Deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia Kristinne Grigoryan presented the topic on behalf of the Armenian party.

In her speech, Grigoryan presented the course of implementation of reforms in the judicial-legal sphere, the anti-corruption field, as well as the field of human rights protection and police sector. She stressed that the government is consistently moving forward with its plan for ensuring integrity, independence and effectiveness of the judiciary.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell highly appreciated the reforms made by the Armenian government in the justice sector and anti-corruption field.

European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi stated that the European Union is supporting the reforms in the justice sector with a EUR 30,000,000 support package and that the EU transferred EUR 9,000,000 to Armenia’s state budget for promising performance last week.

Varhelyi stated that the EU attaches importance to the Armenian government’s active efforts to establish strong anti-corruption institutions, including the Anti-Corruption Court.

Minister Grigoryan touched upon the coronavirus pandemic and the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the painful consequences of the war and stated that Armenia faces new challenges and has new priorities for human rights protection and access to justice.