Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian expressed Armenia's interest in developing deep and comprehensive cooperation with the EU as he delivered a speech at a meeting of top diplomats from the Eastern Partnership member states and the Vishegrad Group, Tert.am reports.

“Armenia has important objectives to fulfill with the EU in all possible sectors of comprehensive partnership, including political dialogue and promotion of trade and economic cooperation.”

“To intensify our cooperation, we intend to conclude negotiations with the [European] Commission over the scientific and research project Horizon 2020, as well as initiate talks to ensure Armenia’s participation in the Small and Medium Enterprise Competitiveness Project. In the sector of transport, the Government of Armenia has expressed willingness to sign the Common Aviation Area agreement with the EU,” Nalbandian said.

“We highly appreciate the EU’s continuing assistance and support provided to our country in the framework of the Eastern Partnership [project], as it had an important role in ensuring the process of reforms and the effectiveness of institutional capacities in Armenia,” the minister added.

The meeting, held in Bratislava, Slovakia, was attended by Vice President of the European Commission, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Federica Mogherini, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiation Johannes Hahn and the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Sweden and Poland.

Addressing new challenges in the Eastern Partnership cooperation platform, Nalbandian noted that they require new cooperation framework.

“Armenia perfectly realizes the importance of a comprehensive cooperation in different formats. We believe that it is possible to make a maximum use of different integration frameworks by adopting a far-reaching approach instead of relying on incompatibilities. Our purpose is to continue deep and comprehensive cooperation with the EU based on the past years’ outcomes,” he added.