Friday, June 12 2020 12:40

ArmInfo. The Eastern  Partnership has been founded upon shared values, which are the  strength of the EaP and must therefore prevail over geopolitical  considerations and remain a unifying force and a cornerstone for  developing its post-2020 agenda, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab  Mnatsakanyan stated in his speech at Eastern Partnership Foreign  Affairs Ministerial video-teleconference, the Ministry's press  service informs. 

Democracy, rule of law, human rights, independent judiciary, freedom  of the media, freedom of assembly are amongst the critical building  blocks of the common space of European values.  Armenia's Velvet  Revolution in 2018 and the consistency of our Government in  commitment to the values of the Revolution, are a manifestation of  our adherence to the common space of European values, hoping that  this space is not eroding.  The multilateral platform of the Eastern  Partnership has also been complementing and feeding into the  development of bilateral relations of each Eastern Partner country  with the EU and its Member States.  Therefore, given the importance  of the Eastern Partnership, it is critical to sustain and further  foster its continuity and integrity.  Any compartmentalization of the  Eastern Partnership will shatter the project.

Yet, this does not mean that the principle of differentiation or  "more for more" approach should not be applied; differentiation and  inclusiveness are not mutually exclusive.  We welcome the Joint  Communication of the European Commission and the High Representative  on the EaP policy beyond 2020 and appreciate the mentioning in it of  the EU's readiness to "support the partner countries in the  modernization of medical facilities, e-health, training of medical  staff and providing affordable medical care and promoting access to  people across society." We also welcome the focus on resilience  reinforcement agenda in the five main areas, as Commissioner Varhelyi  has outlined in his statement.

For Armenia, it is a critical priority to launch the visa  liberalization dialogue.  Armenia has been effectively implementing  the Armenia-EU Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements. We are  engaged in individual dialogue with Member States to demonstrate our  work and our achievements, which merit the launch of the VLD and we  hope that this will happen soon.  The novel coronavirus is the first  serious challenge that the Eastern Partnership has faced since it  entered its second decade.

However, this pandemic once again demonstrated the importance of  international cooperation and multilateralism for effectively solving  supranational threats. Joined efforts are much needed to tackle this  crisis. In this connection, I would like to commend the EU for  mobilizing an emergency support package for immediate needs as well  as the social and economic recovery of the Eastern Partnership  region. This is highly and deeply appreciated by our Government and  by the people in Armenia. The EU's support is so far the biggest to  the EaP countries; particularly for Armenia, the EU has announced  over 92 mln euros worth of support package, which includes both new  funds and already existing but redirected instruments.  This is a  very strong manifestation of solidarity.  We also appreciate the  launch of the "V4EastSolidarity" program and assistance from  individual Member States, specifically Lithuania, Bulgaria, the  Netherlands, and Poland. Thank you very much.  Armenia's response to  the pandemic has several layers, including investing in healthcare,  providing support to socially vulnerable groups and helping the  businesses to overcome the crisis and preserve jobs.

As of today, the overall socio-economic assistance package of the  Government amounts to 150 bln AMD, which equals over 300 million  euros. The Government has effectively implemented 18 assistance  programs/actions to address both the economic and social impact of  the pandemic. Those programs are in the phase of implementation. We  are also designing further comprehensive mid-term action plan,  identifying our policy and interventions. We have also invited the EU  to start a policy dialogue to create an inclusive and constructive  platform where the European Union and its institutions could engage  and contribute to the design and further implementation of our  mid-term action plan to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic.   Indeed together with the spread of the pandemic, there is also  "infodemic" and it needs to be addressed.

There were some ideas and proposals on the ways to deal with it,  including the use of communication, TV and so on. Those are very  interesting ideas that we are willing to consider and discuss with  our partners.  Disinformation is more than the simple distortion of  facts on pandemic.  We do not welcome the use of COVID-19 to   crackdown on human rights and to disseminate hate speech'',  Mnatsakanyan stated.