President receives EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations

President Serzh Sargsyan today received Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.

The Armenian President said that continued dialogue with European partners and senior-level visits provided a good opportunity to discuss the prospects for development of relations between Armenia and the European Union (EU) and to exchange views on issues of mutual concern. In this context, Serzh Sargsyan welcomed Commissioner Johannes Hahn’s visit to our country.

Commissioner Johannes Hahn underscored that he highly valued the current dialogue and cooperation between Armenia and its European partners. He noted that at present the Strategy Paper on the European Neighborhood Policy is being reviewed and an active exchange of its principles is being conducted. According to Commissioner Hahn, among those important principles is that the EU should adopt an individual approach to each of its Neighborhood Policy partners through taking into account and respecting the given country’s understanding and viewpoints on cooperation.

President Serzh Sargsyan said that the cooperation within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy was helpful in terms of fostering reforms in Armenia and thanked all the European organizations for the assistance rendered hitherto to our country.

Johannes Hahn mentioned that the previous phase of negotiations within the framework of the EU Eastern Partnership should not be deemed wasteful, and regardless of further developments, they were useful in terms of identifying the expectations and the defined standards, as well as some potential competitive advantages in the European market.

At the meeting, President Serzh Sargsyan and Commissioner Johannes Hahn also exchanged views on regional issues and challenges, as well as on the recent developments around the NK peace process.