On January 20, the 15th session of the Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council took place in Brussels, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian.

EU delegation was headed by Foreign Minister of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs, representing the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.

The Head of the Armenian Mission to the European Union, Ambassador Tatul Margaryan, First Deputy Minister of Economy Garegin Melkonyan, and Deputy Minister of Justice Arman Tatoyan were in the delegation of Armenia.

During the 15th session of Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council, steps towards further development of Armenia-EU cooperation were thoroughly discussed, i.e. issues on political dialogue, future legal aspects of the relations, mobility partnership, human rights, economic reforms, EU assistance to Armenia.

Minister Nalbandian expressed gratitude to the EU for the assistance and support provided to Armenia over the years, that greatly contributed to the process of implementation of reforms and development of institutional capacities in Armenia, and reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to deepen comprehensive cooperation with the European Union in different areas and directions, on the basis of the achievements reached over recent years, and taking into consideration Armenia’s commitments in other international integration frameworks.

Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed, that the mobility, progress of migration and people-to-people contacts are among top priorities of cooperation with the EU. In this context Minister Nalbandian mentioned that EU-Armenia Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements that entered into force in January 2014 pave the way for the launch of negotiations on the liberalization of the visa regime, that will lead to the elimination of visa regime for the citizens of Armenia in the future.

Edward Nalbandian attached significance to the entering into force of the Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which enables Armenia to participate in a broad range of EU programs and to cooperate with the EU Agencies.

Regional issues and the ways to their settlement were on the agenda of the Council session.

Upon the request of the European side Edward Nalbandian presented latest developments in the negotiation process for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the existing situation which is a result of destructive and provocative activities by Azerbaijan.

In their speeches, Armenia’s First Deputy Minister of Economy Garegin Melkonyan and Deputy Minister of Justice Arman Tatoyan briefed about the economic policy of the Government, reforms in judicial system, the results of cooperation in aforementioned areas as of 2014.

The session was followed by a joint press conference of Edward Nalbandian, Edgars Rinkēvičs and Johannes Hahn.