Wednesday, May 15 2019 12:45

ArmInfo. The events dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the EU Eastern Partnership program have been quite successful. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said this in an interview with journalists in Brussels, referring to the  veto imposed by Azerbaijan on the final declaration.

According to him, the events made it possible to sum up the ten-year  activity and outline a further development vector, interesting  discussions took place among all 6 member countries of the program,  their approaches and positions were heard. "We have our own agenda of  a bilateral dialogue with the EU, which is quite substantial and  serious. The EaP was and remains an important platform where we  complement what is being done at the bilateral level, and from this  point of view we are very pleased with the results.  And as for  summing up the results, it was carried out by Ms. Mogherini (EU High  Representative-Ed. note) and reflects the approaches of member  countries, including Armenia," Mnatsakanyan said.  When asked whether  Armenia opposed any item, or it was only Azerbaijan, as initially it  was supposed to sign a declaration, but ultimately only a statement  from Mogherini was made, Mnatsakanyan noted that the agreement was  adopted on behalf of the High Representative, and everything else is  a process.  When asked whether the Armenian side is familiar with the  formulations on Nagorno Karabakh in the agreement, which Azerbaijan  and the EU plan to sign, Mnatsakanyan reiterated that Armenia has an  agreement with the EU, which is quite substantive and covers a wide  range of issues including on Karabakh. "We are not a party in the  negotiations between the EU and Azerbaijan, and here, it seems to me,  an important question for the European Union is how principled and  consistent are they in their position.  From this point of view, we  have our agreement, where the provision on Nagorno-Karabakh is  reflected and I believe that the EU has the principle of maintaining  consistency, " the chief diplomat of Armenia said.  When asked why  the Prime Minister did not take part in the high-level conference,  what caused various interpretations in public circles, Mnatsakanyan  stated that the head of the government had his own program and  different countries at different levels took part in this event. "The  Armenian Prime Minister conducted a business and successful visit,  both bilateral and multilateral contacts took place," he said adding  that the Prime Minister had an important visit, and it takes a long  time to get from Brussels to Beijing, and this is a normal process  whcih should not become subject of various assumptions.  Clarifying  whether Armenia is considering the possibility of returning to the  Association Agreement, which was annulled in 2013 by Yerevan,  Mnatsakanyan stated that the republic pursues a policy proceeding  from national interests, using a model of diversified cooperation.  "We now have the opportunity to have a document with the European  Union, where there is a serious potential for expanding our  cooperation. The agreement is particularly important in sector  interaction, which is built through the development of a roadmap, and  in which the entire state apparatus, business circles and civil  society are involved. On the other hand, today we have access to 200  million market of the Eurasian Economic Union. If we have so far  managed to successfully combine them, then we need to continue, "he  said.