HomeOffice of the SpokespersonPress Releases...Secretary Antony J. Blinken With European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Before Their Meeting

# 									Secretary Antony J. Blinken With European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Before Their Meeting							

Remarks

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

European Commission Headquarters

Brussels, Belgium

April 5, 2024

**MS VON DER LEYEN:**Prime Minister Pashinyan, dear Secretary Blinken, I’m very glad to host this meeting together with the HRVP Josep Borrell here in Berlaymont.  I’m glad to host a meeting in support of Armenia.  We’re delivering on a promise we made last October, the promise to stand shoulder to shoulder by Armenia, with Armenia – and at the same time the promise to set a vision for the future of our partnership.  And this is what we are going to be discussing today.

This vision will be underpinned on the European Union side by a resilience and growth plan for Armenia – 270 million euros in grants over the next four years.  We will invest in making the Armenian economy and society more robust and resistant to shocks.  We will support your businesses, your talents, in particular your small and medium enterprises, so that we can help them to grow, to innovate, and to access new markets.

And we will invest in key infrastructure projects – for example, in the Black Sea electricity cable that is a transmission route full of opportunities.  It can notably bring clean renewable energy into Europe.  We’re ready to support it.  And in parallel, we will continue investing in Armenia’s renewable energy production and in better interconnections with Georgia.  We will also be exploring cross-border transport if and when conditions allow.  And in this context, I welcome your Crossroads of Peace initiative, Prime Minister.

And finally, we come today with new measures for aviation and nuclear safety and for trade diversification.  This support package we’re presenting today builds on the success of an existing economic and investment plan from the European Union for Armenia.  It has already mobilized over half a billion euros in investments.  I think this is great news, and now we can do even more with the fresh investment perspective, and that is why we have recently launched an investment coordination platform so that we can jointly identify new projects, accelerate the pace, and maximize the potential of our investments on the ground.

Of course, the European Union will continue to support reforms in Armenia through advice, technical support, and funding.  And in this context, Prime Minister, I want to congratulate you for your efforts to carry out democratic reforms, and this despite the challenges faced.  I also welcome the measures that Armenia has taken against the circumvention of our sanctions against Russia, in particular to make sure that lethal equipment and technologies do not end up in the hands of Russian military.  This shows that the European Union and Armenia are increasingly aligned in values and interests.

Now, we’re going to look today at the broader partnership, and let’s take it forward with a new and ambitious partnership agenda between the European Union and Armenia.  This is what we will be discussing in more detail in a moment.

To conclude, we’re not forgetting, Prime Minister, about the plight of the displaced Karabakh Armenians.  The humanitarian situation of refugees in Armenia remains a priority.  We have provided over 30 million euros in support of the refugees since last September, and we’re ready to do more to support the long-term integration of refugees.

I want to say how happy I am to receive both of you here in the Berlaymont, because Europe and Armenia share a long and common history.  The time has come to write now a new chapter, and I’m very glad, Secretary Blinken, to count on the United States as a committed and likeminded partner in these efforts.  We will continue to work all together for the future of Armenia in a stable and prosperous South Caucasus region.

**PRIME MINISTER PASHINYAN:**Thank you very much, dear President von der Leyen, dear Secretary Blinken, High Representative Borrell, dear friends.  Thank you for convening this high-level meeting to reaffirm our collective commitment to sovereign, resilient, and prosperous Armenia.  This event underscores Armenia’s commitment to our shared values and a pursuit of more accountable and citizen-centered public institutions that deliver to its people.

Today’s high-level dialogue signifies Armenia’s expanded partnership with the United States and the European Union.  Despite facing multiple crisises, Armenia has made significant progress toward issuing democracy.  Expanding on the achieved progress, we will discuss Armenians’ efforts to strengthen the resilience of its democratic institutions.  We firmly believe that the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms underpin our cooperation.  The Republic of Armenia reaffirms its commitment to advances – advancing justice and public sector reforms to build a stronger, more secure, and advanced country.

Building on our fruitful political cooperation, it is high time we foster our economic collaboration, promote trade, and look into expanding our partnership in mobility.  We are determined to enhance the competitiveness of the Armenian private sector to expand to new markets.  Further, we stand ready to improve our investment climate and make it more appealing to European and American companies.

We expect our partners to assist us in modernizing Armenian’s quality infrastructure, bridge business networks, and explore potential trade facilitation schemes.  Promoting socio-economic inclusion and addressing the short- and long-term needs of more than 100,000 forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh is also of paramount importance.  Our collective efforts should focus on empowering refugees to rebuild their lives with dignity through housing and economic activation policies.

I want to stress that we remain committed to the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan based on mutual recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991.  Armenia is also fully committed to the delimitation of borders based on the Alma-Ata Declaration and unblocking all the regional communications based on full respect for countries’ sovereignty and jurisdiction, and the principles of equality and reciprocity.  To achieve this objective, we have introduced the Crossroads of Peace initiative, which aims to promote connectivity and dialogue with neighboring countries and beyond.  To enhance synergies in the wider region, we seek to integrate our initiative with the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and expect the support of our partners in this regard.

Madam President, Secretary Blinken, High Representative Borrell, I believe that our shared vision of democratic, peaceful, and prosperous future will continue to serve as the backbone and the guiding star of our mutually trusted relations.  Once again, thank you for fostering this dialogue and for your continued support to the Republic of Armenia.

**MS VON DER LEYEN:**  Thank you very much.

**SECRETARY BLINKEN:**  Well, Madam President, thank you.  It’s wonderful, as always, to be with you, and thank you for bringing us together.  Prime Minister, it’s so good to see you, and my friend Josep as well; very good to have you here.

Prime Minister, I want to start by thanking you for your leadership and also your partnership.  It means a lot, and I think it sets a very strong foundation for what we can do together going into the future.  We are here to reaffirm transatlantic support for a democratic, prosperous future for the Armenian people – and a more integrated and a more peaceful South Caucasus region.  We share the Armenian peoples’ vision for the future.  We want Armenia to take its place as a strong, independent nation at peace with its neighbors, connected to the region and the world.  The United States and the European Union both want to be partners in this effort, and I think today is evidence of that.

We have to harness this moment of choice for the Armenian people and for its leaders.  The United States is investing in efforts that are aligned with the prime minister’s governance and economic reforms.  We plan to provide over $65 million in assistance from our FY23 budget funds.  That’s up more than 50 percent from two years ago.  We’re committed to further growing our support for Armenia’s democratic and economic resilience, with investments for food security, digital infrastructure, diversification of energy, diversification of trade partners, and other priorities that the prime minister has set.

And we will continue to support the 100,000 ethnic Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.  This is central to Armenia’s long-term stability and prosperity, as well as its regional security.  And we’re supporting efforts to integrate people into the economy, into society, including via access to housing, jobs, education.

For Armenia, regional integration is a key to security and to prosperity.  And so we support the ideas, Mr. Prime Minister, that are at the heart of your Crossroads of Peace proposal.  We see a more integrated South Caucasus with new transportation routes, energy cooperation, telecommunications.  This will promote diversified economies, expanded opportunity, and it will bolster peace and reconciliation efforts.  There is a powerful future with a region that is increasingly integrated, that will benefit people in every connected country.  And the United States, the European Union want to help you build that.

So we, too, look very much forward to a productive discussion today, and then carrying on from today, doing the work of strengthening this partnership and strengthening Armenia.  Thank you.

**MR BORRELL:**  Thank you.  Madam President, Prime Minister Pashinyan, Secretary Blinken – dear Tony – two month ago here in Brussels, we hold a partnership council with Armenia.  And it was clear that our relations are developing in a positive track, that they are stronger than ever, and that there is a mutual interest to advance them further.  And that’s what we are doing here today.  We are taking this partnership to the next level, together with our American friends, joining forces to demonstrate our strong commitment to Armenia’s sovereignty, democracy, and resilience.

We want to join our forces to strength and move our relations forward in all dimensions.  That’s what we agreed with the Foreign Minister Mirzoyan, to take our Armenia-EU partnership agenda in the highest possible level inside the framework of our partnership council.  And this is not just words.  The president of the commission has announced a substantial resilience and growth package for Armenia to underpin this partnership agenda.

We know that Armenia has to continue working on the reforms in order to increase their resilience, and these efforts will be part of this comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement.  These will increase the resilience of the Armenian society, and we have seen on the run-up to this meeting – we have seen how Armenia is increasingly targeted by foreign information manipulations and interference.  And part of our commitment is to support you to tackle disinformation and to make people understand which is the right way of doing things, improving media literacy.  Because we believe that a stronger, a more stable Armenia means a stronger, a more stable South Caucasus.  Our work will be on the benefit of all countries in the region.

Thank you.

**MS VON DER LEYEN:**  Thank you very much.  May I invite you now to go to the meeting room?

**SECRETARY BLINKEN:**  Thank you.

**MS VON DER LEYEN:**  Thank you.

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ArmeniaBelgiumBlack SeaBureau of European and Eurasian AffairsDemocracyEconomic AffairsEnergyGeorgiaInvestmentsOffice of the SpokespersonPartnershipsRefugeesRussiaSecretary TripThe Secretary of StateTrade Practices

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