On December 17, the third session of the Armenia-EU Partnership Council was held in Brussels. The Armenia delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian and the EU delegation was headed by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The Armenian delegation included Sedrak Barseghyan, Head of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, Deputy Minister of Justice Kristine Grigoryan, Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture Arthur Martirosyan, Deputy Minister of Environment Anna Mazmanyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Hakob Vardanyan.

The agenda of the Council session included a wide range of issues of Armenia-EU partnership regarding the political and sectoral dialogue, including the procedure of the implementation of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, the prospects of launching a dialogue on Armenia-EU visa liberalization, Armenia's reform agenda. The Partnership Council also touched upon addressing the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic and EU support to Armenia's efforts in this regard.

The sides discussed issues concerning the cooperation in the fields of trade and economy, energy, education and environment. During the meeting the members of the Armenian delegation presented the main developments of the Armenia-EU partnership within the spheres of their competence.

In his welcoming speech, Minister Aivazian noted: "Further strengthening of the value-based partnership with the EU and its member states remains one of Armenia's foreign policy priorities. Unfortunately, our common democratic values encounter many challenges, particularly in our region, the stability and security of which have been clearly undermined by the recent Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against the indigenous people of Artsakh."

Touching upon the current stage of the implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which is the legal basis of Armenia-EU relations, the Foreign Minister commanded that Armenia has already developed a draft roadmap for the CEPA provisions, which will soon enter into force.

During the meeting, the issues of regional security and stability were specifically touched upon. The Minister presented to the participants the steps being undertaken to eliminate the consequences of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan with the direct involvement and support of Turkey against the people of Artsakh, as well as to address the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh. The Foreign Minister stated that the actions of Azerbaijan and Turkey, which were accompanied by gross violations of international humanitarian law, pursued the ultimate goal of annihilating the Armenians of Artsakh from their homeland, setting new dangerous precedents towards the settlement of conflicts in the Eastern Neighborhood.

In this context, the Minister expressed concern over Turkey's transfer of thousands of foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and Libya to Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, thus turning a part of the EU's Eastern Neighborhood into a hub of international terrorism.

During the meeting, both sides stressed the need for a comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, emphasizing in this context the need to implement fundamental principles, which are not implemented yet, particularly, in the process of determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.