Surens Papikyan Meets EU Ambassador Andrea Victorin via Video Conference

The Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Suren Papikyan, held a video conference meeting with EU Ambassador Andrea Victorin on June 18. Minister Papikyan expressed gratitude for the assistance provided by the European Union in the fight against the new type of coronavirus, emphasizing that the crisis situation creates conditions to further strengthen long-standing partnership relations.

Among several directions of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, Minister Suren Papikyan and Andrea Victorin addressed the further cooperation aimed at reforms in the civil aviation sector and the measures to be taken to eliminate deficiencies in flight safety.

“Currently, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure and the Civil Aviation Committee are working intensively to eliminate the deficiencies related to flight safety. Armenia is one of the Eastern Partnership countries that consistently demonstrates its willingness to improve domestic legislation, both in theoretical and practical terms, in bringing domestic standards closer to European criteria. I am hopeful that with the active support of the EU, we will also raise our level of aviation safety by implementing the existing EU standards and requirements laid down for flight safety,” emphasized Minister Papikyan.

Highlighting the need for systematic and targeted work to eliminate aviation issues, Ambassador Victorin stated, “This issue is undoubtedly not just a problem of the last one and a half years; corresponding steps have not been taken in a long time to eliminate them. However, we can view the current situation as an opportunity for Armenia to enhance its level of aviation safety and emerge stronger from the existing situation. We need to work together to solve the problem.”

During the conversation, the minister and the ambassador also touched upon the current status of credit and grant programs, including cooperation in the implementation of community infrastructure projects, particularly the introduction of water supply and drainage systems, energy cooperation, and the effective implementation of regional development programs related to the “Caucasus Electricity Transmission Network.” The interlocutors reaffirmed their mutual readiness to expand and enhance bilateral relations.