At a joint press conference today, RA President Serzh Sargsyan stated that during meeting with visiting European Council President Herman Van Rompuy the two sides engaged in a frank and wide-ranging discussion of issues ensuring the further strengthening of relations between Armenia and the EC.

President Sargsyan underscored that the parties had registered considerable progress on a number of fronts and that they had reaffirmed their commitment to preserve what had been achieved and to continuously develop their scope of cooperation.

The Armenian president stated that Armenia was determined to implement extensive reforms targeting the country’s future democratization, rule of law, essential improvement of the socio-economic situation and raising the effectiveness of the governmental system.

President Sargsyan said that Armenia regards the European Council as a trustworthy partner and supporter of such a process.

The Armenian president noted that he and Rօmpuy had discussed the latest developments regarding the Karabakh conflict settlement and again confirmed that any settlement must be achieved within the scope of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The two also discussed the recent parliamentary elections in Armenia. President Sargsyan stated that the appraisals of the Armenian government and its EC partners dovetailed as to the election results.

Sargsyan said that the elections were the best yet after independence but that there was still much work to be done regarding the improvement of the electoral process.

The Armenian president reconfirmed the willingness of the government to achieve yet greater progress regarding the organization and implementation of the 2013 presidential election.