On 5 March, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker welcomed the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels.
Following the meeting, President Juncker said that the EU welcomes Armenia’s domestic reforms.
“The more Armenia reforms, the more we support Armenia – both financially and politically,” he stressed.
Juncker said that the EU has earmarked up to €176 million in support to Armenia between 2017 and 2020. These funds, he added, are directed at government-led reforms, as well as the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
He also reminded that there is still work to do in Armenian, in particular in its anti-corruption efforts and judicial reforms.
Regarding the progress towards visa liberalisation, according to Juncker, the technical conditions have been fulfilled and there is now “time to engage will all EU Member States on this issue so we can move forward together”.
“As a Commission we are in favour of starting negotiations on the visa liberalisation as soon as possible, because this is important for Armenia and the European Union,” added the President of the European Commission. “Bringing people together is something we are dedicated to and we want to have more Armenians travelling from Armenia to the European Union and vice-versa…”
