ArmInfo. Negotiations around new agreement between the EU and Armenia are entering an important phase, Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski said in an interview to RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
He particularly informed that the next stage of negotiations will start next week in Brussels and a number of meetings are scheduled in October. I suppose that the both sides have readiness to keep the good pace of negotiations. Since the beginning of the process both sides agreed that no deadlines will be set. But I can say that the EU is ready to finish negotiations as soon as possible. The European Union of course has its own red lines. The EU has quite distinct approach to certain issues. But I think that the sides will manage to reach compromise and results can be achieved in the near future, Switalski noted.
The EU Ambassador also expressed hope that the new government of Armenia will continue a number of reforms, particularly related to fighting corruption, which were launched or developed by the government headed by resigned Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan. He hailed the statement made by the new Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan that the new government will continue work in this direction. We hope that the new government will continue these initiatives, especially in the issues of good governance and fight against corruption. The EU is ready to provide assistance to the new government in conducting reforms. We hope that our support will be useful for the new government. We are ready. We want to cooperate with the new government very closely and we wish the new government and the new Prime Minister success in reaching positive changes in Armenia, the Ambassador concluded.