Sargsyan: Our purpose is to hold such an election, which will significantly enhance public confidence in the electoral processes
ArmInfo.The main purpose of today's meeting is a new Armenia-EU framework agreement. On February 27 said the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan at a press conference in Brussels after a meeting with the European Council Chairman Donald Tusk.
"And today, I am pleased to note that the sides have completed the negotiations. The new legal instrument is an agreement on a comprehensive and expanded partnership, which reflects the real depth and scope of relations between Armenia and the European Union. At the same time, it is necessary to note that in addition to the framework agreement, we have achieved significant progress in the sector cooperation by signing a program of small and medium business and "Horizon 2020". In a short time successfully completed the negotiations around the agreement on common aviation area and work to join the initiative "Creative Armenia". In general, the last two years, the Armenia-EU relations distinguished by their activity and the political dialogue significantly intensified, expand cooperation in various fields", said the Armenian President.
At the same time he noted that during the meeting they discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, regional and international issues. According to the Armenian leader, it is expected to start Armenia-EU visa liberalization dialogue in the near future, what is fixed in the final declaration of the Riga summit of the Eastern Partnership, which will have a significant impact on the deepening and broadening of contacts between the peoples.
Sargsyan said that the focus of bilateral cooperation is also on ongoing reforms in Armenia. He recalled that EU has always been close to Armenia and has always had a strong financial, technical and moral assistance for the past 25 years. "The results of this assistance can be seen in various fields: reformed areas such as public administration, justice, agriculture, statistics, public procurement, secondary and vocational education, improved business and investment environment in Armenia. We are resolute in the issue of the continuation of cooperation in the above areas and in other areas of mutual interest to achieve new successes", said the President of Armenia.
Sargsyan also spoke about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia and noted that it is the first process since the constitutional reform in the state of December 2015. "Changing the state management system pursued one goal - to realize a confident step towards the further development and strengthening of democracy. For these elections, the Electoral Code has undergone a complete change, which establishes the foundation for a more open, transparent and fair elections. Our goal is to hold such an election, which will significantly enhance the confidence of our society to the electoral processes. To this end, we have invited and welcome the participation and representation of numerous international observation missions, including the European Council in the upcoming elections. At the same time encourage the activity of local observers and representatives of civil society", said Sargsyan. He thanked Tusk and the European Union for their financial assistance to Armenia for the implementation of the provisions of the new Electoral Code.