Armenia thankful to the EU for 1,6 billion Euro financial assistance to be provided to the country – Acting Vice PM

Armenia is thankful to the EU for the humanitarian assistance both for fighting coronavirus and to the people of Karabakh suffering after the war unleashed against Artsakh, Armenia's acting deputy PM Mher Grigoryan said at a joint briefing with the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi.

"With the Commissioner we discussed our future actions addressed to mitigate the harshest consequences of the wide-range military aggression against Artsakh and the post-war situation. Armenia is committed to exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the sidelines of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship," Armenia’s acting vice PM said, adding that Armenia's priority is the immediate return of the Armenian POWs and civilians kept in Azerbaijan without any preconditions which is also recorded in the trilateral statement.

Grigoryan also expressed gratitude to the EU on behalf of the Armenian government for the commitment to provide 1,6 billion euros to Armenia through different financial tools, noting that they realize that the EU evaluates at its worth the progress registered by Armenia in the implementation of reforms.

"The bright example of it is that in the South Caucasus Armenia is the country which received the biggest assistance," Grigoryan said, stressing that the assistance will be addressed to the 5 prior initiatives set jointly by the Armenian government and the EU.

The directions are – support to small and medium-sized enterprises, construction of North-South highway and supporting infrastructures, social-economic development of Armenia's southern regions, digital management and promotion of innovations as well as development of Yerevan as green and smart city.