The Main Message of the RA President During His Visit to Brussels Was the Effective Implementation of "And-And" Policy by Armenia: Anna Karapetyan

• 03.03.2017, 22:45
• Anna Karapetyan
•  Europe,  "Insight" Analytical Center ,  World,  Armenia

The new framework agreement between Armenia and the EU is the first stage of the implementation of "and-and" policy declared by Armenia.  The expert of "Insight" Analytical Center for Applied Policy and Research Anna Karapetyan said this during a press conference held today at "Novosti-Armenia" press club.

"This agreement shows that we are able to effectively combine our membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and cooperation with the EU. As Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at one of his speeches, Armenia has never had a task of making a political choice, and the country is willing to contribute to the process of strengthening cooperation between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union. In other words, we give great importance to our cooperation with bothUnions and we will build our future policy on this principle," said the expert.

"Our relations with the EU are based on the same basis of values, and the President has repeatedly talked about this during his visit to Brussels. Serzh Sargsyan stressed that Armenia is determined to continue reforms, expressing gratitude for the support of the EU. Especially big focus was made on the constitutional reform and the upcoming parliamentary elections, underlining the EU's exceptional support throughout this process."

According to the expert, the main message of the Armenian President's visit to Brussels was the effective application of the "and-and" policy. "European leaders' statements suggest that the EU gives great importance to the cooperation with Armenia and intends to develop effective relations with Armenia."

According to Karapetyan, the fact that we negotiated and signed the new treaty with the EU, also shows that the trend to divide the EaP countries into the ones that signed the Association Agreement and the ones that did not, was not justified at all.

 "Armenia cannot be viewed in the same group with Belarus and Azerbaijan, as today we have completed negotiations on a new agreement and we signed it," added the expert.

Speaking about Armenia's relations with NATO, she said that the president during his visit to Brussels gave great importance to Armenia-NATO relations. "Realizing the importance of security and stability, Armenia is trying to convert into the security exporting country rather than a security consuming one. Armenia's involvement to NATO peacekeeping missions comes to prove this."