On April 5, in Brussels, RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan signed the protocol “On cooperation between the competent authorities in the field of legal cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union in the field of criminal proceedings of the Republic of Armenia and the European Union Agency for Cooperation in the Field of Criminal Justice (Eurojust).”
On behalf of the EU, the EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Raiders signed the Armenian Agreement, and on behalf of Belgium, the EU Council chairman and behalf of the EU member states, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of North Sea, and Justice Paul Van Tichelt.
Before the official signing ceremony, the signing officials made a speech.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, as well as the officials of the EU and Belgium, emphasized in their speech that Armenia was the first to begin negotiations on the conclusion of the agreement in 2021 and is the first to sign it today, after the successful completion of the negotiations.
In his speech, RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said:
“I am thrilled to sign this agreement today, which aims to further strengthen cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union in justice, the rule of law, and the fight against transnational severe crimes.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the partners of the EU structures, the Belgian presidency, and President Hamran for their contributions and to the partners of the RA ministries and departments for successfully conducting these negotiations. As already said, Armenia was initially interested in signing this agreement. We were the first to start the talks, and I am proud that we were the first to finish the negotiations and sign the deal.
In addition, we already had close cooperation with Eurojust and Europol agencies even without this agreement, but now this agreement strengthens and institutionalizes our collaboration. We are one step closer to fully implementing the RA-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement by signing this agreement. Still, as we discussed earlier, it also opens doors for new opportunities for experience sharing and capacity building.
This agreement will play an indispensable role in promoting sectoral cooperation between Armenia and the European Union’s competent authorities, facilitating mutual legal assistance, developing joint investigation strategies, and addressing justice issues. Notably, we have already signed several documents with the “Europol” agency, which our parliament is currently ratifying. Congratulations and thank you.”
