ArmInfo. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in Bratislava took part in a joint meeting of the Visegrad Four countries, the Eastern Partnership and the EU partner countries.According to the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, the Foreign Ministers of Slovakia Miroslav Lajchak, Czech Republic Thomas Petrichek, Hungary Peter Siyarto, Poland Jacek Chaputovich, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn, foreign ministers of the Eastern Partnership countries of Armenia, Moldova, Georgia participated in the meeting. as well as deputy foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine.
During his welcoming speech, Mnatsakanyan stressed the importance of holding meetings in similar formats on the eve of the Brussels Ministerial Meeting on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the EaP and a high-level forum, which provides an opportunity to analyze the achievements of the Eastern Partnership over the past ten years, as well as exchange views on the development vector for the coming decade .At the same time, Mnatsakanyan described the Eastern Partnership as an important platform for promoting cooperation of Armenia. The head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry pointed out the importance of a differentiated approach to cooperation with the EaP countries and a comparison of cooperation approaches, as well as the formation of a coordinated perception between the EU member states regarding the Eastern Partnership. From this point of view, it was particularly emphasized that for Armenia, the EaP is a partnership formed on a common European value system.
Mnatsakanyan noted that at the core of the Eastern Partnership should be a man, promoting his rights and freedoms, and based on this, encouraging contacts between people.Regarding security issues and the impact of conflicts, the Armenian Foreign Minister emphasized that conflict situations are different and have different influences on the partner countries, and therefore it is necessary to take a separate approach based on the specific situation.At the same time, Mnatsakanyan highly appreciated the Framework Agreement on Partnership between Armenia and the European Union (CEPA), which, among other things, can help advance the agenda of economic development and modernization of the RA, including sectoral cooperation. From this point of view, the Minister stressed the importance of the balanced development of interrelated regional programs.