Representatives of Arme- nia’s ruling Civil Contract faction met with Head of the European Union Del- egation to Armenia, Am- bassador Vassilis Maragos, on October 12 to discuss Armenia-EU cooperation and prospects for further strengthening bilateral ties. The meeting was attend- ed by Arusyak Manavazyan, head of the Civil Contract faction in the National As- sembly; faction secretary Volodya Hakobyan; and MP Babken Tunyan. Manavazyan highlight- ed the importance of Ar- menia-EU cooperation and praised the effectiveness of programs implemented with EU assistance. She also emphasized the progress of democratic reforms in Ar- menia and the EU’s support for the country’s democratic development. Maragos said Arme- nia-EU relations were de- veloping dynamically across various formats, including parliamentary cooperation. He outlined areas of bilateral engagement, reforms linked to EU budget support pro- grams, and the main direc- tions of EU assistance. The participants also emphasized the importance of the EU Monitoring Mis- sion’s activities in Armenia. The discussions covered prospects for expanding co- operation in the economic and energy sectors, oppor- tunities and instruments for bringing Armenian products closer to European stan- dards, and the ongoing visa liberalization dialogue be- tween Armenia and the EU. Maragos provided fur- ther details on the EU visa liberalization process.
