Zohrab Mnatsakanyan participated in the 6th Annual Conference on the Eastern Partnership

08 February, 2019

On February 8, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan participated in the 6th Annual Conference  of Eastern Partnership countries dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the EaP.

 Jüri Ratas, the Prime Minister of Estonia, delivered opening remarks, followed by Dănuț Sebastian Neculăescu, the representative of Romania`s Presidency in EU, who presented the priorities of the Presidency and the upcoming programmes.

 Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who was participating as a speaker in “A Decade of Evolution: Evaluating the Past Ten Years of the EaP” panel held within the framework of the Conference, expressed his gratitude to the Estonian side for consistent efforts aimed at promoting the concept and the policy of Eastern Partnership. Foreign Minister also thanked the Romanian Presidency in EU for promoting the visibility of the Eastern Partnership.

 Touching upon the 10th Anniversary of the Eastern Partnership, Minister Mnatsakanyan noted that it serves as a platform facilitating the cooperation in European direction of the EaP countries. He added that, at the same time, the EaP is a good tool for building national structures in compliance with the European values and European model. In this regard, the Foreign Minister underlined that he represents a country, where the Velvet Revolution in April-May, 2018, undoubtedly became possible also due to national institutional capacities Armenia has been creating over 27 years.

 “Eastern Partnership has been and remains an important platform of cooperation. At the same time, EaP cannot be detached from the broader context and different levels of engagements  within Europe. The bilateral level of cooperation between the nations of Europe is important. For example, I am in Tallinn today also for a bilateral visit to Estonia. Together, we have an extraordinary agenda to work on in order to promote bilaterally a mutually beneficial cooperation and also contribute to a common European agenda in the context of European values. We also have an important relationship and rich bilateral agenda with the European Union as such. The present legal foundation of our relationship is the CEPA - the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between Armenia and the EU, representing an important and effective instrument for supporting our reform agenda and deepening our cooperation. And then we have also been beneficiaries of this additional important platform, which is the Eastern Partnership,"- underscored Minister Mnatsakanyan.

 Indicating two platforms for Eastern Partnership functions, Minister Mnatsakanyan stressed that first of all, it is this recognition of the pragmatic approach to enhance the cooperation amongst the Eastern partners and the European Union and to penetrate as deeply as possible the various fields of cooperation, to engage broadly our societies in such cooperation. The Foreign Minister stressed, that it is not just a cooperation among governments, but over these 10 years other very important platforms have been set up to engage our societies. In this context the Foreign Minister brought as a good example the organization of business forums by commending that another such event will be organized during the Romanian Chairmanship.

 The Foreign Minister of Armenia highlighted the importance that Eastern Partnership has provided solid platform for cooperation in advancing the digital agenda and promoting digital economies. At the same time he highlighted the role of the youth and the civil society in the EaP agenda emphasizing that the national platform of civil society in Armenia is a very important partner of the Government, there is a close cooperation both at our national level, and the EaP level.

 "The other dimension of Eastern Partnership concerns the continued quest for understanding the nature and the ownership of this partnership. Is it a partnership of 28 members of the European Union with its 6 Eastern neighbours? Over the past 10 years we have been compelled to challenge the lingering perception that the Eastern Partnership as a matter of fact is rather a partnership between the Eastern European members of the European Union and the Eastern partners. In fact, the bigger and the more important challenge is to recognise the aspect of common values and common European identity at the heart of the EaP. So, should it be Eastern Partnership or European Partnership?," concluded the Foreign Minister of Armenia.

Thereafter, Foreign Minister Mnatsakanyan and other speakers answered to the numerous questions of the participants.

 

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