Statement by the President of Armenia, Chairman of the RPA Serzh Sargsyan at the conclusion of the Yerevan Summit of the leaders of the EPP Eastern Partnership member states

Distinguished representative of the mass media,

Today, Yerevan for the first time hosted the regional Summit of the leaders of the EPP and Eastern Partnership member states. Last year, at the EPP Summit in Marseille membership of three Armenian political parties to this pan-European structure was a great event of historic meaning. One of the most important objectives of the European rapprochement is the fostering of contacts between our nations, societies, and individuals, while political parties are certainly constitute an important part of these societies.

Cooperation among political parties plays significant role from the viewpoint of dissemination of the European political culture and strengthening of the pan-European system of values. We attach importance to the EPP role in the consolidation of the European identity and in deepening cooperation with the EU partner states. It also contains great opportunities for making our voices more audible in the international and interparliamentary structures.

I would like to express gratitude to the President of EPP Mr. Martens for the warm reception which was extended to the Armenian political parties in the large family of the European People’s Party.

I greatly appreciate participation of the President of the European Commission Mr. Barroso in this Summit. Mr. Barroso, your immediate participation in the Summit has proven once again that problems of the Eastern Partnership and its perspectives are under the constant attention of the European Commission.

Today, we have discussed issues on the agenda of the Eastern Partnership and preset our step up until the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in 2013. We have adopted the Yerevan Declaration which reflects our common vision regarding the future of the Eastern Partnership, regional problems, and the role of the EPP.

The Eastern Partnership program was created as a format for cooperation based on common values. For Armenia, it is important from the viewpoint of using the best European practices for the implementation of the large-scale reforms. We are confident that the mission of the Eastern Partnership will be fully realized when all member states equally commit themselves to the implementation of democratic reforms.

As a family of the Christian-Democratic Parties, the European People’s Party cannot tolerate violation of democratic liberties, xenophobia, belligerent rhetoric, and threats to use force. These phenomena revoke in our collective memory the darkest pages of our history.

We cannot be indifferent to the fact that Turkey, which aspires to be become a member of the European Union, carries on with the illegal blockade of Armenia - a member of the Eastern Partnership program. We are confident that the last closed border of Europe must be opened immediately, without preconditions. We discussed how to boost democratization in the Eastern Partnership countries, how to make European markets accessible for our manufacturers, how to facilitate contacts among our citizens, first easing and later removing entry visa requirements. This is what citizens of our countries expect from us.

Membership of three Armenian political parties to the European People’s Party has given a new impetus to the Armenia-EU dialogue. And for that, we thank all our colleagues.

Thank you.