The Armenia-EU agreement is not just a legal document, but a reflection of value system based on human rights and fundamental freedoms we profess, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in his remarks at the EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels on November 24.
“The year 2017 in fact can be considered as one of the most important destinations of the quarter-century history of the Armenia-EU ties which is marked today by the signing of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership agreement on the sidelines of this summit. It is a comprehensive document, reflects the recent significant developments of our bilateral mutual partnership and outlines the necessary guidelines for deepening them”, the Armenian President said.
President Sargsyan stated that the agreement is based on key provisions of deepening democracy, such as the rule of law, strengthening of justice, development of state and public institutions, good governance. “The effective implementation of these provisions are of vital importance from the perspective of successfully conducting the further reforms in our country. The development based on these joint values is the key to long-term and stable progress of each responsible member of the international community. I want to thank the leadership of the European Union for the assistance provided to this process”, Serzh Sargsyan said.
According to him, the importance of this agreement is not limited to the Armenia-EU relations: many our international partners consider Armenia as a country making closer different integration structures guided by the reconciliation and combination of interests, cooperation and coexistence spirit which is extremely obliging.
“I want to highlight that during this entire process Armenia’s goal from the very start has been the further deepening of our bilateral and multilateral relations.
The Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership agreement is the joint achievement of all of us and can become a positive precedent for other cooperation programs. I congratulate all of us on this occasion”, the President said.
He added that the achievements of the past two years are greatly linked with the results of the Riga summit, in particular, with the joint efforts made for implementing the provisions in the Joint declaration relating to Armenia.
“Armenia, perhaps, is one of the EU partners who succeeded in almost completely implementing the commitments assumed in 2015. We believe that the commitment of Armenia, as well as our EU partners in this process will result in making our societies closer, for which, of course, the launch of dialogue over visa liberalization plays a key role.
We have arrived in Brussels with a belief that the summit will be an important milestone for the Eastern Partnership. From the very start Armenia has supported this cooperation format with the consciousness that this partnership is called on to promote sustainable regional development, and as a uniting factor, will eliminate the dividing lines based on the fundamental rights of peoples”, President Sargsyan said.