Working visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to Republic of Malta

President Serzh Sargsyan has arrived to the Republic of Malta on a working visit to participate together with the Heads of state and government of the EU and Eastern Partnership countries, whose parties are also members to the European People’s Party (EPP), at the meetings and the Summit of the EPP.

Before the beginning of the first plenary meeting, the President of Armenia from the Valletta International Airport departed to Hastings Park where he was greeted by the Mayor of Valletta Alexiei Dingli, parliamentarians, and representatives of the Armenian community of Malta.

The President of Armenia laid a wreath at the Armenian cross-stone installed in the park. It was installed on December 22, 2009 at the initiative of the Armenian community of Malta as a token of gratitude to Malta which harbored on this island the Armenians who arrived here in 1375 from the Cilician Armenia and in 1915 Armenians who fled the Armenian Genocide.

Together with Mayor Dingli and representatives of the Armenian community, President Serzh Sargsyan paid tribute at the cross-stone.  

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During his working visit to the Republic of Malta, President Serzh Sargsyan attended the Congress of the European People’s Party held at the “Arena” conference center of the “Intercontinental” hotel in Saint Julian’s. The congress was conducted by the President of the European People’s Party Joseph Daul. The Head of the European Union Donald Tusk, The Head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, The Presidents of states and governments representing the parties which are members to European People’s Party from the EU member states and Eastern Partners and the Leader of the Nationalist Party of Malta Simon Busuttil
are participating at the Congress.

During the two-day Congress, the spotlight of all the delegates will be the importance of pan European issues and the agenda, specifically, focuses on the political discussions on the essential topic of “The Future of Europe.” They will also turn to the issues of the European neighborhood, the current developments in the sphere of Eastern Partnership and to the current international challenges.

President Serzh Sargsyan made a speech during today’s first plenary session of the congress, in which he touched upon the relations and cooperation between Armenia and the European Union, he stressed the new opportunities and prospects for expanding and deepening bilateral cooperation, and he also touched upon the upcoming parliamentary elections after the constitutional amendments and stressed the importance of the mission and problems of the European big family which is a key milestone in the path of Armenia’s democratization.

The President of the Republic of Armenia expressed the hope that the European Union would succesfully overcome all the problems faced by this stage and all the challenges, continuing its specific mission of spreading peace, stability and development, which would be beneficial for the people of Europe as well as for its partners.

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Statement by President Serzh Sargsyan at the Congress of the European People’s Party

Distinguished Mr. President,

Ladies and gentlemen,

At the outset, l’d like to thank President Daul of the European People’s Party for inviting us to attend this event. Of course, I am also sending all my best wishes to the President Mr. Busuttil at the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I’m glad to register that form the very beginning this year has been very active for the Armenia-European Union relations. A historical achievement was registered in February: jointly with President Tusk, we had announced the conclusion of negotiations on the new legal document regulating our relations-Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. It will open up a new page in the relations between Armenia and European Union, and consolidate its institutional foundations, establishing new opportunities for the further expansion and deepening of our partnership.

Armenia-European Union partnership is a success story, a model of a successful partnership that resulted on one hand from Armenia’s consistent European agenda, and on the other - stemmed from the tailor-made approaches of the recent years in EU’s cooperation with the Eastern Partnership nations. Throughout this process Armenia has vividly demonstrated that it has been possible to make compatible various integration processes while harvesting and sowing everything positive and useful, which unite and does not divide nations.

Dear colleagues,

Just in three days from now on, Armenia will hold parliamentary elections. This is going to be an important stage on the path of democratization of my nation since constitutional reform. Taking into account peculiarities of my country’s development we pursue the objective of taking a decisive step towards building a democracy of European model and further strengthening of the democratic institutions. We are committed and spare no effort in order to conduct elections in line with the highest international criteria. All appropriate international structures, such as OSCE/ODIHR, PACE, European Parliament, OSCE and CIS PAs had been invited to Armenia to observe elections.

We are grateful to the European Union and the European People’s Party for standing by us throughout these important processes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Few days ago European communities solemnly celebrated the 60-th Anniversary of the Rome Treaty, which established necessary conditions for the current prosperity and sustainable development of European citizens. We, in Armenia closely follow with great interest both those jubilee events and accompanying discussions. The history of the EU is first and foremost one of jointly settling the issues, overcoming disagreements and, last but not least, jointly building the success.

His Holiness Pope Francis had rightly noted on this occasion: “The founding fathers remind us that Europe is not a conglomeration of rules to obey, or a manual of protocols and procedures to follow. It is a way of life, a way of understanding man based on his transcendent and inalienable dignity.”

We believe that European Union will also successfully overcome all the issues and challenges it faces at this stage and it will continue with its unique mission of peace, stability and development for the benefit of both people of Europe and Europe’s friends.

Thank you.

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During his working visit to Malta, President Serzh Sargsyan attended second plenary session of the congress of the biggest pan European political family, the European People’s Party (EPP) and discussions of the subsequent summit.