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Armenia: President Serzh Sargsyan Conducted Working Meeting Pertaini

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  • Armenia: President Serzh Sargsyan Conducted Working Meeting Pertaini

    ARMENIA: PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN CONDUCTED WORKING MEETING PERTAINING ARMENIA-EU RELATIONS

    ISRIA
    http://www.president.am/events/news/eng/?id=280
    N ov 14 2008
    DC

    Today, at the working meeting conducted by President Sargsyan,
    discussed was the whole range of issues pertaining to the Armenia-EU
    relations. The meeting was attended by the members of the National
    Security Council, members of the Government, and the leaders of
    relevant structures.

    The President of Armenia presented the details of his visit to
    Brussels and raised certain issues related to a further enhancement
    of the relations with the European Union.

    Serzh Sargsyan noted that the agenda of his visit to Brussels was
    pretty packed - in three days he held over twenty meetings with almost
    the entire leadership of the European Union. He also gave a number
    of interviews to some of the leading European news agencies.

    The main impression of the President of these meetings was that the
    European structures, their representatives are obviously pleased with
    the level of relations with Armenia and the accomplished works. Second,
    there is good will to continue and deepen the relations, and to
    implement more daring programs.

    The President said that naturally during these meetings discussed
    were also more general issues, the Armenian-Turkish relations and the
    NK peace process, however the main topic of the discussions was the
    EU-Armenia action plan and the specific problems which in Armenia's
    opinion the EU should address on the road toward a deeper bilateral
    cooperation.

    Stressing the desire of our country to get more connected with Europe,
    Serzh Sargsyan said, "on this stage the Armenian side proposes to
    soften up the visa regime to facilitate the contacts between our
    citizens, to create equal opportunities for trade, which would
    facilitate granting a market economy status to our country, and
    the signing of the trade agreement." According to the President,
    the agreement has been reached to easy up the visa regime and to
    establish presently in our country, together with the EU Committee
    for Justice and Freedoms, a subcommittee to deal with the reforms
    in the judicial and legal areas. The agreement has been reached with
    EU Commissioner for Trade to dispatch a group of expert-advisers to
    Armenia in December. Together with the Armenian officials they will
    develop a precise time table of actions. Another document has been
    signed on sending a group of EU advisers to Armenia to facilitate
    the implementation of the action plan.

    Stressing that there was a mutual willingness to deepen the relations,
    the President of Armenia said, "This work should be treated by us
    not as a program, which we have vowed to implement but rather as a
    work which provides us the opportunity to continue with the reforms
    in our country. And it is indeed an instrument for reformation."

    In Serzh Sargsyan's opinion, the new plan of actions most probably
    will be included in the framework of the EU Eastern Policy and will
    have two distinctive features: first, the component of the regional
    cooperation will become more prominent and highlighted, and the second,
    participants to the Policy will be provided with different formats and
    different levels of evolvement, depending on the country's readiness
    to deliver.

    The President of Armenia instructed to work on the program with the
    utmost seriousness and tasked the Ministers and the Heads of relevant
    structures to keep under personal control the activities carried out
    in their respective areas.

    At the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Nalbandian
    presented the process of the implementation of the program and
    activities conducted during 2008 on different directions, noting that
    these activities were started back in 2007. Minister Nalbandian also
    said that Armenia would present the report on the activities conducted
    in 2008 on December 9 in Brussels, during the EU Ministerial meeting.

    The Secretary of the National Security Council, Arthur Baghdassarian
    spoke about the activities of the interagency commission on cooperation
    with the European structures and noted that based on the proposals of
    all concerned Ministries and agencies a new, rather ambitious plan
    for action has been set up which could become a good base for the
    discussions and future cooperation.
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