The region, including Armenia, is going through serious transformations, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said in an interview with Turkish TRT World on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
“In our case it is also an internal affair. The people of Armenia have chosen the democratic path to develop the society and we have proven this choice several times through elections, as well as through the process of strengthening our democratic institutions. And along the way, we see that the European Union and the US are the main supporters of our democratic reforms and institutional changes. And in general, it’s a good ide to diversify relations, to have as many partners as you can. So, this is the way we are passing though, we are in the middle of the process of significantly deepening our relations with the EU, the USA, while maintaining traditional ties or, for example, looking to the East as well. You know, we are building a completely new quality relationship with India and so on. Of course, I would also like to emphasize our priority – to normalize and develop relations with our neighbors. This is the short description of our foreign policy,” the Foreign Minister said.
Asked whether Armenia has ever considered joining the European Union, FM Mirzoyan said: “Having in mind all the challenges that we have been facing during the last 3-4 years, many opportunities are being actively discussed in Armenia nowadays. It will not be a secret if I say that the idea of joining the EU is also in that list. The people of Armenia have European aspirations, and as I said, we are going through the process and we will see what the end of the process will be, which no one can predict at the moment,” the Foreign Minister stated.
“We have new opportunities for cooperation with France and the USA. We have a strategic dialogue with the US, in the framework of which we are exploring new areas. I can say the same about the European Union. We have the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the EU, but we are looking beyond this agreement. We are discussing visa liberalization, some new mechanisms that can be used in our relations. I would also like to add that for the first time in history, the European Union is involved in the security affairs in our region. You know that the EU monitoring mission is stationed in Armenia, which monitors the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is also important to note that since the deployment of the mission, tensions on the border have decreased, and we see that the mission has contributed to stability. Thus, we include new directions, new areas in our partnership, and we are still halfway through the process,” Minister Mirzoyan said.
