The 13th session of the Armenia-EU sub-committee on justice, freedom, and security was held today under the co-chairmanship of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Arpine Sargsyan, in which the head of the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Armen Ghazaryan, also participated.
The meeting was also attended by high-ranking representatives of the EU, including the Head of the European Service of the EU’s External Actions, Mrs. Dorota Dlucci-Suliga, the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, the Department for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and the Eastern Partnership of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Neighborhood Affairs, the EU Commission and the Delegation other representatives, as well as high-ranking representatives of the RA government and law enforcement agencies.
Within the framework of the planned agenda items, Deputy Minister Sargsyan presented the process of creation and formation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the progress of the reforms of the services operating under the Ministry, particularly the police sector, the vision of the transformation of the Rescue Service, and the already-implemented large-scale reforms of the Migration and Civil Service. Sargsyan emphasized that the implementation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ reform agenda proceeded without stopping the services provided to the public even for a minute.
The EU partners were also presented with the successes achieved in the fight against organized crime, including drug trafficking and cybercrime, and the challenges and planned steps resulting from practical and close cooperation with EU specialized structures. Separate reference was also made to the new approaches to forming the Criminal Police, thanks to which it will fight more effectively against crime.
Within the framework of the session, the Head of the Migration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Armen Ghazaryan, referred to the agenda of reforms implemented in the field of migration policy, the current situation in the field of asylum, and also emphasized the effective implementation of the visa facilitation agreement signed between RA and the EU. The necessity and importance of starting the RA-EU visa liberalization dialogue were also noted.
In his speeches, Sargsyan highly appreciated the volumes of support provided by the EU during the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and made proposals aimed at increasing them, in response to which the EU partners expressed their willingness to continue and deepen support for systemic reforms within the framework of both bilateral and multilateral regional programs.
