Republican Party of Armenia

On September 27 the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Artak Zakaryan and the Chairwoman of the NA Standing Committee on European Integration Naira Zohrabyan met with the Delegation led by the Commissioner for EU Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle.

Welcoming the guests Artak Zakaryan has noted that the agenda of the RA-EU relations is rather full, and the Armenian Parliament also within the framework of its functions actively takes part in the ongoing joint works. “And within the framework of the Eastern Partnership and New Neighbourhood Programme we are concerned with European integration, particularly the Association Agreement, in the issues of deep and comprehensive free trade area, readmission and easing of entry visas,” the Committee Chairman said.

The parties also touched upon the problem of implementation of practical programmes with civil society organizations, particularly taking into account their educational, social, cultural and other requirements.

The Committee Chairman highlighted the involvement of the Armenian Parliament in the CIB programme, which would be an additional assistance for the development of the capabilities of the National Assembly.

Touching upon the NK conflict Artak Zakaryan noted that the European Union with its statements would more address the conflicting parties, in the given case Azerbaijan. It was noted that the actions of Azerbaijan should be assessed more realistic and not with balancing statements. According to the Committee Chairman, every balancing statement gives opportunity to Azerbaijan to avoid the responsibility and continue its destructive actions damaging the security of the region.

Talking about the regional problems the Chairwoman of the NA Standing Committee on European Integration noted that in many cases the double standards applied by European side were the reason that the Azerbaijani authorities despised the European values. As an example Naira Zohrabyan noted the second plenary session of the Euronest in Baku, where in response to the Azerbaijani President’s fascist speech, the European component, in fact, did not seriously oppose Aliyev’s speech.

He has noted with regret that during the recent period he as a working MP in international organizations, has noticed that just they retreat from their adhered values, and Azerbaijan succeeds with its “caviar” diplomacy and oil dollars to change the atmosphere of European prestigious organizations.

The interlocutors touched upon the procedure of reforms being implemented in Armenia and the steps undertaken in that direction.

Štefan Füle emphasized the circumstance that Armenia is very active on the path of implementation of reforms. In his words, Armenia takes part in the process of European integration with high rates and the reforms give tangible results. The EU Commissioner evaluated the negotiating process of the Association Agreement rather promising. In his opinion, within the framework of Eastern Partnership and New Neighbourhood Policy Armenia’s pursued reform policy is rather successful and regularly enjoys the assessment of the European Union organizations.