{"id":452096,"date":"2026-05-05T12:45:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T10:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/05\/05\/lue-vola-in-armenia-per-il-primo-vertice-di-partenariato-incontro-storico-e-il-posto-giusto-in-cui-investire\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T14:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:22:35","slug":"eu-heads-to-armenia-for-first-partnership-summit-a-historic-milestone-the-right-place-to-invest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/05\/05\/eu-heads-to-armenia-for-first-partnership-summit-a-historic-milestone-the-right-place-to-invest\/","title":{"rendered":"EU heads to Armenia for first partnership summit: “A historic milestone, the right place to invest”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 To the notes of the \u201cOde to Joy\u201d from Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s Ninth Symphony\u200b<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan<\/span><\/span><\/strong> welcomed the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen,<\/span><\/span><\/strong> and the President of the European Council, Ant\u00f3nio Costa,<\/span><\/span><\/strong> at his official residence on Marshal Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, to launch the first summit between the  European Union<\/span><\/span><\/strong> and Armenia. A summit that Brussels describes as \u201chistoric,\u201d aiming to strengthen cooperation in the fields of connectivity, security, and defence in the South Caucasus, economic development and people-to-people contacts. \u201cToday\u2019s summit…reflects the significant achievements of recent years, and the strategic importance of our partnership, which brings tangible benefits to citizens and businesses,” according to a joint statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The summit comes at a time of increasingly intensifying dialogue<\/a> between Armenia<\/span><\/span><\/strong> and the European Union<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. Brussels began investing in relations with Yerevan as early as 2021<\/a>, through the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA). At the same time, Armenia launched a reform programme based on democracy, transparency, and the rule of law, with a particular focus on combating corruption, reforming the judicial system, strengthening institutional accountability, and promoting equal economic, employment, and social opportunities.<\/p>\n

The European plan for Armenia\u2019s resilience and growth<\/a>, worth 270 million euros and announced in 2024, aims to support the country\u2019s socio-economic resilience. The objective is to invest in connectivity and businesses, bring Yerevan closer to the Union, and promote a more inclusive society. On 14 July 2025, Costa and von der Leyen had already met with Pashinyan to consolidate the partnership, while on 2 December 2025, the sixth meeting of the EU-Armenia Partnership Council<\/a> took place, focusing on the implementation of the CEPA and on political dialogue regarding reforms, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. The new strategic agenda adopted at that meeting set out more ambitious priorities, with particular emphasis on economic development, security, and resilience.<\/p>\n

Some key guidelines<\/a> emerged from the summit. The first concerns connectivity and energy. \u201cWe have just signed a Connectivity Partnership\u201d, it is emphasised, \u201cwhich brings our cooperation to a new level\u201d, starting with transport and investment in solar power and storage, so that \u201cprecious renewable resources\u201d can strengthen security of supply. A second pillar is that of security and democratic resilience, with European commitment to support the armed forces and counter \u201chybrid threats and disinformation,\u201d so that the will of the people remains \u201cthe sole legitimate source of power.\u201d Cooperation extends to mobility and social resilience, with the aim of accelerating visa liberalisation and strengthening border management through Frontex<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, whilst supporting an economic plan capable of mobilising up to 2.5 billion euros for business growth, demining, and support for displaced persons from Karabakh.<\/p>\n

One of the most sensitive issues remains that of regional peace. The European Union has promoted what it describes as a \u201csignificant turning point\u201d following the treaty between Armenia<\/span><\/span><\/strong> and Azerbaijan<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a> signed in August 2025. In the joint declaration, the parties state that they are \u201cbound by shared political values\u201d and by respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, interpreting the strengthening of ties as a genuine \u201cinvestment in peace\u201d for the entire South Caucasus. Brussels also supports the normalisation of relations with Turkey<\/span><\/span><\/strong> and the reopening of regional links, in accordance with the principles of reciprocity and the inviolability of borders. This process is supported by the EU mission, which is considered essential for \u201cfurther institutionalising peace\u201d and ensuring lasting stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis first EU-Armenia summit marks a key milestone in deepening the partnership,” wrote Ant\u00f3nio Costa<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. During the press conference, Costa praised<\/a> Nikol Pashinyan‘s work<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>: \u201cYou have not changed Armenia\u2019s position, but you have radically changed the conditions in your country.\u201d The shared goals of \u201cstability, democracy, peace, and prosperity\u201d will continue to guide future efforts. Ursula von der Leyen<\/span><\/span><\/strong> added<\/a> that Armenia has \u201clong been a valued member of our wider European family\u201d and that Yerevan \u201cis the right place to invest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brussels began investing in cooperation with Yerevan in 2021 with the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Since then, relations between the two sides have grown increasingly stronger, culminating last December when the EU and Armenia set out a strategic agenda focused on economic development and security<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7896,"featured_media":452063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[26847,30204,33945,27645,33394,25921],"class_list":["post-452096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-armenia-and","tag-coast-en","tag-erevan","tag-partnership-en","tag-ue","tag-von-der-leyen-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7896"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":452097,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452096\/revisions\/452097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}