Situation in Armenia Requires the EU’s Strong Support – Borrell

BRUSSELS — The situation in Armenia requires the EU’s strong support, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the EU Commission Josep Borrell has said.

“[Now] I am going to have first a meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister [Ararat Mirzoyan], because you know that after we have the Eastern Partnership meeting at the Ministerial level. So many things are happening in the whole region, it is important to continue to pay attention to them and, in particular, to Armenia, that has been in a very difficult situation and still is. So, I will start my day with the Armenian Foreign Minister,” Borrell told reporters ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

During a Q&A with reporters, Borrell was asked on the Eastern Partnership meeting.

“On the Ministerial of the Eastern Partnership, I mentioned that so many things happened in this part of the world. The Belarusian seat will be empty. We continue to try to do our best to isolate Lukashenko’s regime and support the Belarusian opposition. I hear that they are going to hold elections in Belarus. I wonder what kind of elections they will do. But we have the whole Eastern Partnership in a difficult situation – Belarus, Ukraine, then the Caucasus. The good news is Georgia advancing towards [EU] membership, but the situation in Armenia requires our strong support. We will see how we can increase it and how we can continue having the Eastern Partnership on our agenda, because it is our Eastern border, and our Eastern border is the place in the world where more hotspots are growing,” he said.