On March 23, 17th Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council was held in Brussels.

The delegation of the Republic of Armenia was headed by the head of the Foreign Ministry Edward Nalbandian, the delegation of the European Union - by Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission.

Armenian delegation included First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan, Deputy Minister of Justice Vigen Kocharyan, Deputy Minister of Economic Integration and Reforms Makar Ghambaryan.
The sides touched upon the achievements registered since the previous meeting of the Cooperation Council.

They had a detailed discussion on a wide range of issues of the Armenia-European Union agenda, including the political dialogue, trade and sectoral cooperation, human rights, mobility, reform process. Thoughts were exchanged on the Armenia-European Union Partnership Priorities for 2017-2020.

The high level mutual visits of the previous year, effective negotiations on the Armenia-European Union Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, Armenia’s participation in various EU projects were touched upon.

Highlighting the statement of Serj Sargsyan, the President of the Republic of Armenia, and Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, on the conclusion of the negotiations on the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement made in February this year and the initialling of the agreement in Yerevan in March, the sides expressed hope that it will be possible to sign the Agreement at the EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels.

In his speech, Edward Nalbandian noted that Armenia remains committed to the goals of the Eastern Partnership and continues to make its contribution to the joint efforts being exerted in that multilateral format.

The achievements of Armenia of the last two years were touched upon, including the accession to the COSME, Horizon 2020 projects, as well as the launch of negotiations on Creative Europe project and Common Aviation Area.

Active cooperation of Armenia and the European Union towards implementation of the agreements on entry visa facilitation and readmission was underlined. In this context Edward Nalbandian noted that Armenia expects to launch the dialogue on the entry visa liberalisation, as it has been outlined earlier in Riga.

Acting Minister Nalbandian touched upon the Parliamentary elections in Armenia held on April 2, 2017, noting that they were observed by an unprecedented large number of international observers, who announced that the elections were well prepared, the fundamental freedoms were protected, and the results reflected the will of the population. In this context, Edward Nalbandian expressed gratitude to the European Union for providing financial and technical support aimed at ensuring the transparency of the electoral process.

The sides discussed urgent international and regional issues, including the developments in Iran, Turkey, Middle East.

The head of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia briefed on the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries towards an exclusively peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Edward Nalbandian added that the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan in the beginning of April, 2016, has been the most large-scale military action since the conclusion of the trilateral truce agreements of 1994 and 1995. The Acting Minister also stressed that the gross violations of the International humanitarian law and the human rights perpetrated by Azerbaijan during the aggression were pursued the aim of terrorising the population of Artsakh.

The High Representative Mogherini stated that the conflict does not have military solution and the European Union fully supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries.

While appreciating the principal position of the European Union that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict, the Acting Minister Nalbandian noted that Azerbaijan still refuses to implement the agreements reached in Vienna and Saint-Petersbourg, the importance of which is continuously emphasized, including during the recent meeting of Foreign Ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow.

Edward Nalbandian expressed gratitude for organising at a high level the 17th Armenia-European Union Cooperation Council and stressed that Armenia is looking forward to continue the effective cooperation with the European Union.

Following the meeting, the head of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia and Federica Mogherini made statements for the press.