On November 25, the 12th session of Armenia-EU Cooperation Council took place in Brussels.

The Armenian delegation led by the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian arrived in Brussels to take part in the session. The delegation included Emil Babayan, the RA Deputy Minister of Justice, Garegin Melkonyan, the Deputy Minister of Economy and Avet Adonc, the Head of the Armenian Mission to the EU.

The delegation of the European Union was headed by Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, representing the EU Presidency and the State Secretary for European Affairs of Poland and Štefan Füle, the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy.

In the session which was conducted by the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs as chair of the Cooperation Council meeting, the agenda of bilateral cooperation was discussed. The work completed during this year and the steps to be undertaken towards the development of the relations were summed up, as well as regional issues were touched upon.

Presenting the steps being undertaken by Armenia towards the European rapprochement, Minister Nalbandian said that the cooperation between Armenia and the EU is one of the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy and the Armenian side would continue to exert efforts towards the further strengthening of the relations.

Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, the State Secretary for European Affairs of Poland and Štefan Füle, the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, highly appreciated the progress registered in the relations between Armenia and the EU.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia stressed the importance of the activities of the EU Advisory Group supporting the implementation of the reforms in Armenia describing it as a successful example of an effective cooperation.

In the course of the session the sides exchanged views on the negotiations being conducted for the signing of an Association Agreement, and over the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, vise facilitation regime and inter-parliamentary cooperation formats.

Minister Nalbandian expressed satisfaction with the successful implementation of the negotiations being held over the Association Agreement underlining that it would reinforce the legal basis of the relations between Armenia and the European Union, creating new possibilities for deepening of the cooperation.

The sides discussed the possibilities to launch the negotiations over the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.

Minister Nalbandian stressed that Armenia has finished the preparatory works for launching the negotiations on the visa facilitation regime and is expecting the appropriate steps to be undertaken by the European side.

Mikolaj Dowgielewicz assured that by the end of the Polish Presidency the European Council would approve the mandate provided by the European Commission for launching the negotiations on the visa facilitation regime.

Highly assessing the cooperation with Armenia, the European delegation presented its support to the democratic and economic reforms being implemented in Armenia and the steps being undertaken towards that direction.

Upon the request of the European side, Edward Nalbandian presented the recent developments in the negotiations over the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In this context the European side mentioned that the EU supports the peaceful process in the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group. Regarding the Armenian-Turkish relations,the European side reaffirmed its position on the necessity to ratify and implement the protocols signed in Zurich without any preconditions. The Deputy Ministers of Justice and Economy of Armenia informed about the steps being implemented in their spheres, the Government’s economic policy and the reforms being conducted in the judicial sphere. The Session of the Council was followed by a joint briefing of Edward Nalbandian, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz and Štefan Füle.