NATO Positively Assesses Effective Cooperation with Armenia

On March 9 Session of the North Atlantic Council in 28+1 format was held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels which was attended by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, ambassadors of NATO 28 member-states, heads of defense agencies and NATO senior officials.

Edward Nalbandian touched upon various sectors of cooperation between Armenia and NATO, priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and fight against terrorism. He also referred to Armenia’s participation in peacekeeping missions, fulfillment of agreements on Iran’s Nuclear Program, Syrian crisis, as well as Armenia’s stance on a number of international urgent issues.

Referring to Armenia-NATOrelations, Nalbandian positively assessed the effective cooperation in the framework of the Individual Partnership Action Plan, noting that the current Action Plan is the fourth one in a row, and the development of a plan for 2017-18 will soon begin.

Edward Nalbandian presented the results of referendum on constitutional reforms held in Armenia last December and the process of reforms arising from the referendum.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan referred to the defense sphere and expansion of opportunities in the area of military education, noting the importance of cooperation with NATO in this context.

NATO Secretary General and ambassadors of member-states delivered speeches during the session. They positively assessed the cooperation.

Prior to the session of North Atlantic Council, Nalbandian and Ohanyan held a meeting with NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The sides touched upon the implementation of various projects and exchanged opinions on regional issues.