The Visa Facilitation Agreement between Armenia and the EU was signed

In Brussels the 13th meeting of the Cooperation Council of the EuropeanUnion (EU) and Republic of Armenia took place on December 17. The Armenian delegation led by Edward Nalbandian, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia arrived in Brussels to participate in the meeting.

The EU delegation was represented by Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, acting as Chair of the Cooperation Council and Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy.

During the meeting the sides discussed the bilateral cooperation agenda, summed up the works completed during the year and touched upon the steps to be undertaken towards the development of relations, as well as regional issues.

In his address during the meeting Minister Nalbandian mentioned that relations with the EU play an important role in Armenia’s foreign policy agenda, and reaffirmed Armenia’s willingness to further deepen cooperation with the EU. He added that Armenia as actively engaged in both bilateral and multilateral dimensions of the Eastern Partnership.

The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his gratitude for the continuing support provided by the EU to the implementation of reforms in Armenia in the spheres of democracy, rule of law and human rights, underlining that since 2009 Armenia has established a dialogue with the EU in the sphere of human rights which is an effective frame for constructive and beneficial discussions.

Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, and Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy highly assessed the progress made in the Armenia-EU relations and expressed their support to implementing democratic and economic reforms, and the steps undertaken to that end.

During the session, it was noted that the year of 2012 was marked with the intensification of high-level reciprocal visits: the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan paid a visit to Brussels in March and June, and the President of the European Council Van Rompuy, President of the European Commission Barroso and Commissioner Füle respectively visited Armenia in July, September and December.

The Armenian Minster of Foreign Affairs stressed the importance of the Association Agreement, including the successful implementation of the negotiations over the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. Edward Nalbandian emphasized the Armenian side’s commitment to finish the negotiations until the Vilnius Summit of Eastern Partnership to be held on November of 2013.

On the same day Edward Nalbandian, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, acting as Chair of the Cooperation Council and Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs signed the Visa Facilitation Agreement between Armenia and the EU.

The Agreement would further simplify the procedures of acquiring Schengen visa for Armenian citizens which is an important step towards the liberalization of the visa regime.

Edward Nalbandian underlined that the Armenian Government made a decision according to which the EU citizens can visit Armenia without any visa since 10 January of 2013 and expressed hope that the same would be done by the EU for Armenian citizens.

Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, acting as Chair of the Cooperation Council and Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy signed a Protocol to the EU-Armenia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which would allow Armenia to participate in EU programs.

Upon the request of the European side, Edward Nalbandian presented the recent developments in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Minister Nalbandian expressed gratitude for the support provided by the EU to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ efforts aimed at the settlement of the Karabakh issue exclusively through peaceful means which has been ascertained in the statements of EU high-ranking officials.

The meeting was followed by a joint press conference of Edward Nalbandian, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis and Štefan Füle.