16th session of Armenia-EU Cooperation Council held in Brussels
19-01-2016 15:00:29 | Belgium | Politics
On January 16, the Armenian delegation headed by Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia participated in the 16th session of Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council held in Brussels.
The EU delegation was headed by Bert Koenders, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, representing the presidency of the Council of the European Union and Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
Members of the Armenian delegation were Ambassador Tatoul Markarian, Head of the Armenian Mission to the European Union, Garegin Melkonyan, First Deputy Minister of Economy, and Vigen Kocharyan, Deputy Minister of Justice.
In the framework of the 16th session of Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council, chaired by Edward Nalbandian, extensive discussions on the steps towards further development of the Armenia-EU cooperation were held, which included such issues as political dialogue, negotiations on future legal aspects of the relations launched at the end of the last year, mobility, human rights, economic reforms, and EU assistance to Armenia.
Opening the session, Edward Nalbandian stated, “2015 was a special year for the Armenia-EU cooperation. We witnessed high-level visits, an intense and constructive dialogue with an impressive number of bilateral meetings, negotiations on Armenia-EU agreements in various areas. The launch of the negotiations on a new legal framework of Armenia-EU relations was a new threshold in our relations. We hope that the new agreement will reflect the depth and essence of our bilateral relations and set new guidelines for mutually beneficial cooperation.”
Minister Nalbandian expressed appreciation to the EU for its continued support and assistance provided to our country over the years that have been instrumental for the effective implementation and sustainability of the reform process and institutional capacity building in Armenia, and reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to continue comprehensive cooperation with the EU in different areas and directions, based on the achievements reached during recent years, and taking into consideration Armenia’s commitments in other international integration frameworks.
Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed that mobility and promotion of people to people contacts are among the priorities of the Armenia-EU partnership agenda. In this context, Minister Nalbandian outlined that the EU-Armenia Visa Facilitation and Readmission agreements, which entered into force in January 2014, pave the way towards the launch of the Dialogue on Visa liberalization that will provide an opportunity to eliminate visa regime for the citizens of Armenia in the future.
Edward Nalbandian attached importance to the commencement of the Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which enables Armenia to participate in a broad range of the EU programs and to cooperate with the EU Agencies.
In their speeches, Armenia’s First Deputy Minister of Economy Garegin Melkonyan and Deputy Minister of Justice Vigen Kocharyan briefed about the economic policy of the Government, reforms being undertaken in the judicial system, the results of cooperation in the areas of economy and judiciary in 2015.
Foreign Minister of Armenia presented to the Council the events on the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide held throughout the world and their message, expressed gratitude to the European Parliament, the EU countries for their principled position on this issue. Minister Nalbandian talked about Armenia’s active engagement in efforts of the international community aimed at prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity and thanked the EU countries for their support to the Armenian initiatives within the UN formats.
Edward Nalbandian presented the latest developments in the negotiation process for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the situation along the Line of Contact with Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and the border with Armenia unfolded as the result of destructive and provocative actions of Azerbaijan.
“Last year was symbolized by a significant increase in gross violations of the cease-fire regime by Azerbaijan, including the use of heavy weaponry, resulted in numerous human casualties. The OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs used targeted wording towards Azerbaijan in their statements urging the latter to show restraint, to respect the cease-fire agreement, its commitments to the peaceful settlement of the conflict and creation of the mechanism for investigation of border incidents”, outlined Foreign Minister of Armenia. Edward Nalbandian assured that together with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs Armenia would continue joint efforts on exclusively peaceful settlement of the NK conflict.
Regional and international issues and ways to resolve them were also on the agenda of the Council’s session.
The session was followed by the joint press conference of Edward Nalbandian, Bert Koenders and Johannes Hahn.
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