On 17 July, the President of the EU Council Charles Michel visited Armenia where he met with the country’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Both sides confirmed their readiness to deepen cooperation to advance a number of flagship initiatives. “Contacts between Armenia and the EU have never been as intense as they are now, which undoubtedly testifies to the mutual intention to develop relations. I would like to emphasise the importance of ensuring the necessary conditions for the implementation of joint programs,” Pashinyan said at a joint press conference. He thanked the EU leadership for the intention to allocate about 2.6 billion euros to Armenia for the implementation of 7 conceptual programs. These include completing the construction of the North-South highway, strengthening the sustainability of the southern regions of Armenia, developing small and medium-sized businesses, encouraging business activity and women's leadership, solving environmental problems, and stimulating a green agenda, developing innovations, technologies and science, building water and educational infrastructures.
He stressed that the European Union is one of Armenia’s most important partners regarding implementing ambitious programs. “Armenia is ready to actively cooperate with the European Union and EU countries, focusing on the implementation of institutional reforms, the establishment of the rule of law and the strengthening of democratic institutions,” Pashinyan said.
In turn, Michel confirmed the EU's readiness to continue and strengthen cooperation with Armenia in the coming months. He said the European Union wants to be a loyal, active, and involved partner to help Armenia achieve prosperity, stability, and security. He said the EU wants to fix its presence in this region and wants to strengthen ties between the parties.
Another important topic spoke about was Nagorno-Karabakh, where they both reaffirmed their commitment in solving the conflict through the OSCE Minsk Group. “The use of force and massive crimes cannot resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as its settlement is possible only through negotiations within the only format - the internationally mandated co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group,” Pashinyan said. “I have repeatedly publicly welcomed this statement on the resumption of peace negotiations, stressing that Armenia is ready to resume negotiations, but Azerbaijan did not react in any way. According to information from unofficial sources, Azerbaijan intends to unleash new military clashes in Karabakh and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, manifested today on the Nakhichevan section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” he added.
