On May 17-18, within the framework of the Armenia-US Strategic Dialogue, sessions of working groups on Justice/Law Enforcement and Democracy were held under the co-chairmanship of Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan, Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan, and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs James Applegate.
Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Supreme Judicial Council, General Prosecutor’s Office, Corruption Prevention Commission, Anti-Corruption Committee, Human Rights Defender’s Office and other bodies of the Republic of Armenia, and from the American side representatives of the State Department and the US Agency for International Development participated in the sessions.
In his remarks, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan noted that despite a number of internal and external challenges, security issues and encroachments on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, Armenia is firmly pursuing its goal of building a strong democracy. It was emphasised that significant progress has been made in this regard in recent years, and the Armenian government is committed to continuing its reform agenda aimed at protecting human rights and freedoms and ensuring the rule of law and justice. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also stressed that close cooperation with the U.S. and the support provided by the American side for years are key to the implementation of democratic reforms.
During the meeting, the sides discussed the promotion of shared democratic values and the improvement of human rights protection mechanisms, the expansion of cooperation between law enforcement bodies and the implementation of joint programs, judicial reforms, the prevention of corruption and the strengthening of anti-corruption institutions, and the fight against human trafficking. The issues of strengthening the government’s strategic communication capabilities and sharing experience in this field, as well as promoting participatory governance, were discussed.
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The sides also outlined the priorities of further work and the steps to be implemented.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Government