The EU has considered the events in July and the constitutional referendum held in Armenia. During the presentation of the mid-term results of the projects designed for the Eastern Partnership countries, in particular Armenia by the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU) in Yerevan, Dirk Lorenz, the Head of the Political, Economic, Press and Information Department of the EU delegation in Armenia, referring to the mentioned two key events occurred in Armenia, said, “We meet once in a year. Normally, the next session should take place in spring next year, and there we discuss in a very open and frank manner all issues of concern of the Armenian side and the European Union side, I am sure that also the July events and the following handling of the cases will be a subject, which will be discussed during the framework, and I want to preempt at this stage that the discussions that we will surely have.” Dirk Lorenz also emphasized that Armenia is the first country, for which they have budgetary support for human rights sector.
CoE/EU project manager, Council of Europe Directorate-General II, Lilia Kolombet, said that this is the second meeting in the framework of the Platform.
Back to the RA budgetary allocations, Lilia Kolombet said that the total budget amounts to 2.2 million euros, “Although under this project, Armenia has a modest budget package, however, Armenia has a key role both in regional and national programs.” Note that Armenia is involved in four national programs: criminal reforms, enhancement of healthcare services in the prison system, building integrity project in higher education sector, and long-term support associated with the elections. Some projects are also expected to implement in 2017, these projects will be presented in Strasbourg and Brussels, which will be approved in early 2017.
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
