The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in the expanded meeting of the Visegrad Group of the Eastern Partnership countries.

On March 5, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Prague participated in the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Eastern Partnership countries, Visegrad Group (V4) Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary and a number of European countries. The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton and the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle attended the meeting, as well.

During the meeting Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian delivered a speech and presented the progress registered in the cooperation between Armenia and the European Union, stressing that so far 24 Chapters of the Association Agreement have been agreed upon, the negotiations over the visa regime facilitation have launched and the negotiations over the creation of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area will start in the near future which the Armenian side, together with the European counterparts, intends to finish in a short period of time. Minister Nalbandian spoke about implementing reforms in Armenia, as well.

In Prague Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Štefan Füle, the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. The interlocutors discussed the agenda issues of the upcoming Armenian President’s visit to the European institutions. They had a thorough talk on the Armenia-European Union rapprochement, expressing satisfaction with the achieved progress. Minister Nalbandian and Commissioner Füle exchanged views on the recent developments in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

The agenda of the meeting included the issues related to the preparatory works of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia and the reforms being implemented in the country.

Referring to the document adopted by the Council of the European Union on the South Caucasus, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia mentioned that it stresses the similarities between the positions of Armenia and the EU on the steps to be undertaken towards the deepening partnership with the EU.

Talking about the Nagorno-Karabakh section of the same document, Edward Nalbandian said, “We welcome the EU’s approach in support of the efforts undertaken by the Minks Group Co-Chairs towards the settlement of the issue.”
In the frames of the Ministerial meeting Edward Nalbandian and Catherine Ashton, European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy exchanged views on the Armenia-EU cooperation and regional issues.

The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs met with Urmas Paet, the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well. Issues related to the bilateral relations and Armenia-EU cooperation were on the agenda of the talks.

With the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi, Edward Nalbandian discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the official visit of the Armenian President to Hungary.

Concluding the visit, on the same day Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian left for Brussels.