2022 was a dynamic year from the viewpoint of Armenia-EU and EU member states. On 21 October 2022 the EU civil monitoring mission was deployed in Armenia for two months, which was later transformed into a longer-term format. The RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Paruyr Hovhannisyan said this introducing the report on the process and results of the Government plan implementation of the Republic of Armenia (2021-2026) in 2022 at the sitting of the NA Standing Committee on European Integration on March 17.
According to him, this decision contributed to the stabilization of security in the region, as well as informing the EU and its member states about the situation.
The Deputy Minister reflected on the events that took place during the financial year. The institutional framework of the cooperation established by the RA-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement continued to function effectively, the sittings of the Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures, the RA-EU Partnership Committee, the RA-EU Partnership Council, the joint RA-EU Readmission Committee, the Sub-Committee on Geographical Indications, Employment and Social Affairs, Healthcare, Training and Education, Information Society, Culture and Youth, Trade Partnership Committee, the Sub-Committee on Human Rights Dialogue and Justice, Freedom and Security were held.
Paruyr Hovhannisyan mentioned that in the context of cooperation with the European Council, the works on the agenda continued, a number of meetings were held, in particular, the meetings of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Charles Michel, as well as trilateral meetings with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan.
The Deputy Minister also touched upon the visits of various international delegations, implemented projects and signed agreements.
The RA NA deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Maria Karapetyan inquired whether possible perspective issues of the RA-EU cooperation in the field of security are being discussed.
“The security field is a new sector within the RA-EU partnership. The start was given in January of this year. It’s a new sector, but I'm sure it’s very useful in this situation due to both the EU mission deployment and the EU mediation efforts, as well as other global challenges,” the Deputy Minister informed.
The RA NA deputy of Armenia Faction Agnesa Khamoyan inquired about the positive and negative effects of the EU observation mission deployment, the reaction of the states of the region.
Paruyr Hovhannisyan noted that Iran reacted quite sensitively but positively to this issue. “The Ambassador of Iran said that he does not see any problem. It shows that the picture is different in case of explanatory works. We should provide more information. Cases of border provocations have decreased. In addition, a larger-scale provocation was prevented,” the Foreign Minister Deputy mentioned.
The Committee took note of the report.