PM describes Armenia–EU Summit as historic milestone in strengthening ties

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the inaugural Armenia–EU Summit in Yerevan elevates the bilateral relationship to a new qualitative level.

Speaking at the summit on Tuesday in Yerevan, Pashinyan described it as a historic event.

“When we mutually refer to today’s summit as the first bilateral summit, it means that the holding of a second, third, and subsequent summits is also implied. I believe the issue is not only the name itself, but also that our relations have already developed such a substantial agenda that, in a predictable way, it will be necessary in the near future to discuss it at the level of summits, while of course assuming that quite detailed and extensive work must be carried out in between, which has already been done so far,” the Prime Minister said at the meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and top diplomat Kaja Kallas, among others.

Pashinyan noted with satisfaction that the discussions held in a narrow-format meeting within the framework of the summit showed that there are common positions and a shared understanding on many items on the agenda.

“This means that there is an appropriate atmosphere for us to focus on the implementation and realization of the agenda. I would also like to thank the European Union for the support provided to us during this period, particularly in the areas of democratic and institutional reforms. I have often had the opportunity to say that democracy for us is not a coincidence of circumstances, but a strategy consciously adopted as a decision by the people of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan emphasized.

The Prime Minister added that all reforms that could be implemented relying solely on political will have already been carried out, and further progress will require greater institutional, legislative, and expert input.

“In this regard, our cooperation with the EU is very important, and I can already thank our partners for supporting us in this area, starting with ensuring the independence of the judiciary, and extending to various issues, including countering hybrid challenges, which is, of course, part of our agenda,” the Prime Minister added, expressing hope that the EU will support efforts to address issues such as disinformation and the spread of hate speech through the exchange of experience or by providing access to already established tools.