EU, Armenia expected to start negotiations on new agreement soon

PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Ministers of EU member states are expected to give a mandate for negotiations on a new agreement between the EU and Armenia at a meeting in Luxembourg this week, Armenian Foreign Minister said, according to RFE/RL Armenian Service.

Also, France’s Minister of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir, who visited Yerevan to participate in the 2-day Foreign Ministers' Conference of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), commented on the issue.

“The document will enable Armenia to cooperate with the European Union without curbing membership in the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union,” Desir noted.

Besides meeting with Armenia’s President and Foreign Minister, Desir also held talks with Armenian businessmen and civil society representatives.

Richard Giragosian, founding director of the Regional Studies Center, also met with the French minister. He said that Desir was interested in the process of deepening EU-Armenia relations after an association agreement that the parties had been negotiating on for more than three years failed in 2013 following Armenia’s accession to the EEU.