EU is ready to assist new government of Armenia in conducting reforms, Piotr Switalski says
ArmInfo. Negotiations around new agreement between the EU and Armenia are entering an important phase, Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski said in an interview to RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
He particularly informed that the next stage of negotiations will
start next week in Brussels and a number of meetings are scheduled in
October. I suppose that the both sides have readiness to keep the
good pace of negotiations. Since the beginning of the process both
sides agreed that no deadlines will be set. But I can say that the EU
is ready to finish negotiations as soon as possible. The European
Union of course has its own red lines. The EU has quite distinct
approach to certain issues. But I think that the sides will manage to
reach compromise and results can be achieved in the near future,
Switalski noted.
The EU Ambassador also expressed hope that the new government of
Armenia will continue a number of reforms, particularly related to
fighting corruption, which were launched or developed by the
government headed by resigned Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan. He
hailed the statement made by the new Prime Minister of Armenia Karen
Karapetyan that the new government will continue work in this
direction. We hope that the new government will continue these
initiatives, especially in the issues of good governance and fight
against corruption. The EU is ready to provide assistance to the new
government in conducting reforms. We hope that our support will be
useful for the new government. We are ready. We want to cooperate
with the new government very closely and we wish the new government
and the new Prime Minister success in reaching positive changes in
Armenia, the Ambassador concluded.