On May 30, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Garen Nazarian participated in the conference entitled “Current phase of Armenia-EU relations and mechanisms for civil society engagement”, co-organized by Armenian National Platform of civil society of the Eastern Partnership and Delegation of the European Union to Armenia.

In his remarks, Deputy FM stressed that the Government of Armenia attaches importance to the engagement of civil society both in terms of implementation of initiatives and programs with the EU and reforms realized in many areas of the country. Garen Nazarian emphasized that civil society plays a vital role in the facilitation of Armenia-EU cooperation, particularly, in people to people contacts, exchanges in different fields and strengthening of ties, in raising awareness about shared values with Europe.

During the conference, the Deputy Foreign Minister presented the results of recent developments of relations and political contacts between Yerevan and Brussels, reflected on issues regarding bilateral cooperation with the EU member states, positions and assessments of the sides on regional developments. Garen Nazarian touched upon the process of review of European Neighbourhood Policy and commended the fact that the European Commission included civil societies of the EaP states along with states themselves in the review process. He reflected on the negotiations around new legal framework between Armenia and the European Union, active cooperation on parliamentary level with the European side, and the EU's stance on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

At the conference, Garen Nazarian also answered numerous questions raised by the attendees.