On April 10, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan received Claus Neukirch, the Director of Program Co-ordination of the Council of Europe, who is in Armenia within the framework of the Armenia-Council of Europe Action Plan Steering Committee meeting.

The Deputy Foreign Minister commended the effective cooperation between Armenia and the CoE based on a close high-level dialogue, referring to the CoE Secretary General's visit to Armenia few days ago and following Armenia-CoE joint activities and events.

Paruyr Hovhannisyan underlined the importance of the Armenia-CoE Action Plan 2023-2026, as the core of the Armenia-CoE cooperation and which, in line with the reform agenda of the Armenian government, continuously promotes democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Armenia through strengthening the capacities of legislative, institutional bodies and expert agencies.

The sides also highlighted the CoE's comprehensive package, included in the Armenia-CoE Action Plan 2023-2026, aimed at addressing the mid-term and long-term needs of Nagorno-Karabakh refugees, whereby the CoE provides expert assistance to the Armenian authorities to guarantee their social, health, education, housing and employment rights.

Note: The Armenia-Council of Europe Action Plan 2023-2026 (link: https://rm.coe.int/action-plan-armenia-2023-2026-hye/1680aa1616) is a package of ongoing reforms aimed at improving the judicial system, increasing the efficiency of the justice, combating corruption, cybercrime, complying with the European standards in the field of biomedicine, improving healthcare in penitentiary, developing the probation service, protecting the rights of women and children, and reforming the local governance. The total budget of the Action Plan is €22.3 million, of which €2.8 million has been allocated by the CoE to meet the needs of the forcibly displaced population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The programme is funded by the CoE and the EU, meanwhile through voluntary contributions of CoE member states, as Norway, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Cyprus and Liechtenstein.