Sargsyan: Our purpose is to hold such an election, which will  significantly enhance public confidence in the electoral processes

ArmInfo.The main purpose of today's meeting is a new Armenia-EU framework agreement. On February 27 said the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan at a press conference in Brussels after a meeting with the European Council Chairman Donald  Tusk.

"And today, I am pleased to note that the sides have completed the  negotiations. The new legal instrument is an agreement on a  comprehensive and expanded partnership, which reflects the real depth  and scope of relations between Armenia and the European Union. At the  same time, it is necessary to note that in addition to the framework  agreement, we have achieved significant progress in the sector  cooperation by signing a program of small and medium business and  "Horizon 2020". In a short time successfully completed the  negotiations around the agreement on common aviation area and work to  join the initiative "Creative Armenia". In general, the last two  years, the Armenia-EU relations distinguished by their activity and  the political dialogue significantly intensified, expand cooperation  in various fields", said the Armenian President.

At the same time he noted that during the meeting they discussed a  wide range of bilateral issues, regional and international issues.  According to the Armenian leader, it is expected to start Armenia-EU  visa liberalization dialogue in the near future, what is fixed in the  final declaration of the Riga summit of the Eastern Partnership,  which will have a significant impact on the deepening and broadening  of contacts between the peoples.

Sargsyan said that the focus of bilateral cooperation is also on  ongoing reforms in Armenia. He recalled that EU has always been close  to Armenia and has always had a strong financial, technical and moral  assistance for the past 25 years. "The results of this assistance can  be seen in various fields: reformed areas such as public  administration, justice, agriculture, statistics, public procurement,  secondary and vocational education, improved business and investment  environment in Armenia. We are resolute in the issue of the  continuation of cooperation in the above areas and in other areas of  mutual interest to achieve new successes", said the President of  Armenia.

Sargsyan also spoke about the upcoming parliamentary elections in  Armenia and noted that it is the first process since the  constitutional reform in the state of December 2015. "Changing the  state management system pursued one goal - to realize a confident  step towards the further development and strengthening of democracy.  For these elections, the Electoral Code has undergone a complete  change, which establishes the foundation for a more open, transparent  and fair elections. Our goal is to hold such an election, which will  significantly enhance the confidence of our society to the electoral  processes. To this end, we have invited and welcome the participation  and representation of numerous international observation missions,  including the European Council in the upcoming elections. At the same  time encourage the activity of local observers and representatives of  civil society", said Sargsyan. He thanked Tusk and the European Union  for their financial assistance to Armenia for the implementation of  the provisions of the new Electoral Code.