After the EU-Armenia Partnership Council in Brussells, Josep Borrell,High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, provided press remarks with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
In particular, Borrell said:
“Today, in our discussion, it has been clearly shown that our relations are developing on a positive track.
We had the opportunity to discuss the full spectrum of our relations, in the framework of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. But at the same time, we also acknowledged that there is room to unlock the full potential of this Agreement.
In October in the European Parliament, your Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinyan] said that Armenia is ready to move closer to the European Union.
In response, last October, the European Council, at the highest political level of the European Union, tasked me and the [European] Commission to explore ways to strengthen our relations - EU-Armenia relations - “in all their dimensions”.
In this context, today we decided to launch work on an ambitious new EU-Armenia Partnership Agenda.
This decision sends a strong signal of our mutual interest in a new strategic phase in our relations, and it will provide a clear roadmap and a vision for the way forward.
This is about the future. The future starts today.
But let’s look back at the last year. Human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles continued to underpin our cooperation. I welcomed the steps taken in the justice reform, the fight against corruption, and encouraged Armenia to further address challenges in the fight against discrimination, hate speech and disinformation.
I also want to congratulate – as I did - Armenia on becoming the 124th state party of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. That is a very important and courageous decision from your side.
Looking ahead, we discussed options to start a Visa Liberalisation Dialogue with the European Union. I took good note of Armenia’s strong interest and encouraged Armenia to further step-up reforms in order to progress on this issue.
Together, we discussed how we can strengthen our relationship and in particular, the resilience of Armenia, notably in trade, on energy, on connectivity and aviation safety. We will also help decommission the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant while improving nuclear safety.
I reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to support Armenia’s participation in the Black Sea electricity cable project, and other regional connectivity projects. These initiatives have strong potential to serve [as] dividends for peace”.
