MFA: Armenia and EU Holding Consultations on Further Cooperation

In
response to the question on the possibility of signing an agreement at Riga
Summit, Foreign Affairs Minister Edward Nalbandyan told the journalists that
Armenia and the EU were holding political consultations on further cooperation.

According
to him, the consultations are at the final stage. "When the EU gives the
negotiator's group an appropriate mandate, it will be possible to get into a
process and sign an agreement", he said.

In response to the question concerning Russia's
nonfeasance of safety provisions, that conditioned Armenia's integration into
the EEU, Nalbandyan regarded it improper to comment on such questions. He also
ignored the question on the Karabakh conflict escalation. Meanwhile, Krzysztof
Bobinski, the co-chair of the Civil Society Forum, said at a press conference
in Yerevan that Armenia's EEU membership had been conditioned by the safety considerations
and guarantees provided by the other EEU countries. "Safety guarantees
were provided in return of Armenia's denial of the EU Associate Membership.
However, the guarantees did not work given the escalation of the Karabakh
conflict. Now the attention is to be focused on the guarantee
credibility", he said.