On July 10 the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian and Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan participated in the first Eastern Partnership summit of the European People’s Party (EPP) in Batumi.

EPP’s President Wilfred Martens, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Integration Grigol Baramidze, Moldavian Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration Yuri Lyanke attended the Summit, as well. In the course of the Summit, the participants touched upon the cooperation held in the frames of the Eastern Partnership and its perspectives.

The other issues of the discussions were about the Eastern Partnership from Warsaw Summit of 2011 to Vilnius Summit of 2013, the development of the cooperation between the EPP and political parties of the Eastern Partnership member countries, the reinforcement of the political platform of the Eastern Partnership, and the promotion of sectoral cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership. The Armenian positions on above-mentioned issues were presented by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

During the Summit, on behalf of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, EPP’s President Wilfred Martens, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Moldavian Prime Minister Vlad Filat, a final joint declaration was adopted which reflects the vision of the EPP and the countries participating in the Summit on the perspectives of the Eastern Partnership and the cooperation between the political parties of the EPP members.

The Declaration fixed that the next meeting in this format would take place in Yerevan at the end of the year.

On the same day Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with Wilfred Martens, the President of the European People’s Party. The sides exchanged views on the cooperation between Armenia and the European Union.

Ahead of the Summit, the meeting of the Ministers took place, which was attended by EPP’s President Wilfred Martens, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Integration Grigol Baramidze, and Moldavian Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration Yuri Lyanke.