On May 17-18, within the framework of the Armenia-US strategic dialogue, a meeting was held in Yerevan under the co-chairing of RA Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan, Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan, and US Acting Deputy Secretary of State for Counter-Narcotics and Law Enforcement Cooperation James Applegate. meetings of working groups.
The sessions were also attended by the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Labor and Social Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Supreme Judicial Council, General Prosecutor’s Office, Investigative Committee, Corruption Prevention Commission, Anti-Corruption Committee, HRD Office and other structures, and on the American side, the State Department and the US Representatives of the Agency for International Development.
In his speech, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan noted that despite several internal and external challenges, security problems, and encroachments on the territorial integrity of Armenia, Armenia is firmly implementing its goal of building a strong democracy. It was emphasized that significant progress had been made in recent years, and the RA government is committed to continuing its reform agenda to protect human rights and freedoms and ensure the rule of law and justice. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA also emphasized that close cooperation with the USA and the support shown by the American side for years are essential in implementing democratic reforms.
During the meeting, the parties discussed in detail the promotion of shared democratic values and the improvement of human rights protection mechanisms, the expansion of cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the implementation of joint programs, judicial reforms, the prevention of corruption, and the strengthening of anti-corruption institutions, the fight against human trafficking. The issues of strengthening the government’s strategic communication capabilities, sharing experience in this field, and promoting participatory management were discussed. The parties outlined the priorities of further work and the steps to be implemented.
