Brussels, 19/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - At the end of the 16th Cooperation Council held in Brussels on Monday 18 January, the European Union called on Armenia to step up its reforms, especially as regards its electoral system.
While taking note of the progress made, the Dutch foreign affairs minister, Bert Koenders, said that the EU “would certainly welcome an acceleration (of reforms) in specific areas, especially democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, the fight against corruption and constitutional and judicial reform”. During a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, Koenders also underlined the need to make progress in the reform of the electoral system.
Nalbandian said that his country was interested in working with the EU in the areas of human rights, the rule of law, the consolidation of democratic institutions, the improvement of the judicial system, good governance, the fight against corruption and the development of civil society.
Armenia and the EU reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening and deepening their cooperation in all possible areas that are compatible with Yerevan's obligations stemming from its membership of the Eurasian economic union. They also discussed the launch of negotiations for a new agreement between the EU and Armenia. Koenders said he hoped the negotiations would go “relatively quickly” and that the agreement would enter into force “rather soon”.
While the EU confirmed its support to the Armenian efforts to implement the agreements on the facilitation of visas and readmission, Nalbandian said he would like the discussions to begin on the liberalisation of visas. “It's now nearly two years since the agreement on visa facilitation and readmission was implemented. The time has come to progress on the dialogue on visa liberalisation”, he said. The Cooperation Council also hailed the smooth conduct of the implementation of the partnership for mobility. In addition, the EU and Armenia discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The EU's position consists of encouraging the continuation of dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)