On September 18, Arusyak Manavazyan, head of the Civil Contract faction in Armenia’s National Assembly, and faction secretary Volodya Hakobyan received Eva Sundquist, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to Armenia, Marike Harriet Monroy-Winter, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Eric de Muynck, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium.
The meeting focused on the expanding relationship between Armenia and the European Union. The sides also discussed the Armenia-EU visa liberalisation process, along with cooperation in trade and the economy, politics, defence and security.
Addressing the ambassadors, Arusyak Manavazyan said Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands are not simply European countries for Armenia, but vivid examples of democracy, the rule of law and institutional culture. She said Armenia aims to reach those standards in its state-building efforts, while democratic reforms remain a political commitment and one of the main guarantees of the country’s security.
She also said the Armenian side highly values the support provided by those countries in that process.
The participants underlined the importance of deepening and energising inter-parliamentary ties, with particular emphasis on the role of parliamentary friendship groups.
Manavazyan also praised the presence of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia. In addition, she gave a positive assessment of the European Union’s temporary removal and reduction of import customs duties on certain Armenian products, a step linked to broader trade and economic cooperation.
At the guests’ request, the discussion also touched on relations with parliamentary opposition forces and other issues.
