Armenia-EU talks have nothing to do with Armenia’s possible membership candidacy - European Union spokesman

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YEREVAN, 9 August. /ARKA/. Armenia-European Union talks have nothing to do with Armenia's possible EU membership candidacy, European Union External Relations Spokesman Peter Stano told a href=https://www.azatutyun.am/a/stano-hh-em-banaktsoutyounnery-oreve-kap-chounen-andamoutyan-teknatsoutyan-hnaravoroutyounneri-het/33072537.htmlRadio Azatutyan./a/pp

We are now discussing the agenda of this partnership to see how far our partners want to go, how far we are willing to go and to harmonise our objectives, he said./pp

The EU-Armenia partnership agenda is actually an update of the one that was agreed with Armenia in February, Stano said, adding that Armenia and the EU agreed then that they would be more ambitious and would update the existing agreement./pp ‘We have already started negotiations on the EU-Armenia partnership programme, and this is exactly the kind of renewal that will expand EU-Armenia cooperation in all areas of mutual interest, because one of the EU principles in developing relations with partners is to respond to their ambitions. If we see, as in the case of Armenia, that there is a desire to do more in more areas, to co-operate more deeply and intensively, we respond to that, he said./pp ‘Now we are discussing the programme of this partnership to see how far our partners are ready to go, how far we are ready to go, and to agree on our goals, he said./pp

According to him, this is very important, because it shows that the sides are getting closer, that they want to do more together, based on European principles and values, of course, and based on political reforms, economic reforms and mutual co-operation./pp

Asked whether this new partnership agenda could be seen as a step towards Armenia's candidacy for EU membership, Stano said it had nothing to do with a potential candidacy process for membership./pp ‘The negotiations on the EU-Armenia partnership agenda reflect the mutual desire and commitment of both sides to do more together, but on the basis of the current relationship. And the current relationship is defined by the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA)./pp

So these negotiations have nothing to do with potential EU membership opportunities, those are two different things, we already have a CEPA agreement with Armenia and now we are expanding on its foundations and areas where we can co-operate more closely. This reflects our current co-operation, which both Armenia and the European Union want to expand, but I emphasise again that this has nothing to do with potential membership or an application for EU membership, as this is based on existing, ongoing relations. said Stano. -0-/p