The further development of the EU project Eastern Partnership could be challenged without understanding fundamental reasons of the Ukrainian crisis, Armenian President Serzh Sargsian said. "The Ukrainian crisis has shown that without understanding fundamental reasons of the current situation further development of the Eastern Partnership could be called into question. Armenia joined the Eastern Partnership with a profound conviction that it is not aimed against some third country. We still have this conviction. This initiative [the Eastern Partnership] has all preconditions to become not a separating wall in the region but a connecting bridge. It is necessary to find via dialog solutions taking into account interests of all regions' beneficiaries," Sargsian said at a high-level meeting in Prague dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.
The progress of reforms being carried out in the past five years in the framework of the Eastern Partnership has enhanced democracy development in Armenia, Sargsian’s press office quoted the president as saying to Interfax.
“Significant progress has been registered in fighting corruption, holding free and fair elections, ensuring free economic competition, increasing transparency of state structures’ activities, ensuring court system independence and developing civil society. At the same time, we realize that we have a lot to do to establish real democracy of the European example,” the Armenian president said.
The purpose of the Eastern Partnership is developing integration ties between the European Union and Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Belarus.
