Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the third meeting of the European Political Community in the Spanish city of Granada.

The leaders of more than four dozen countries were welcomed at the venue by the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, after which the summit started.

Prime Minister Pashinyan also participated in the round table discussion on "Multilaterality, inclusive security and geopolitical problems".

Nikol Pashinyan had short talks with the leaders of a number of countries and institutions within the framework of the summit. In particular, the Prime Minister talked to French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Silina, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovačevski about issues of mutual interest, including the situation created by Azerbaijan's policy of ethnic cleansing against our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Granada.

Issues related to the situation resulted by the forced deportation of Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, the regional situation and the Armenia-EU cooperation agenda were discussed.

Ursula Von der Leyen noted that the EU is ready to provide the necessary support to Armenia to help solve the humanitarian problems of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was noted that the Commissioner for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations will arrive in Armenia to assess further needs.

At the same time, the parties referred to the process of democratic reforms implemented in Armenia and further cooperation in that direction.

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A quadrilateral meeting of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Council President Charles Michel took place in Granada within the framework of the third meeting of the European Political Community.

Based on the results of the meeting, a joint statement was adopted, which particularly reads as follows,

“The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz met in Granada with Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz underlined their unwavering support to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of Armenia.

They also expressed their support to the strengthening of EU-Armenia relations, in all its dimensions, based on the needs of the Republic of Armenia.

They agreed on the need to provide additional humanitarian assistance to Armenia as it faces the consequences of the recent mass displacement of Karabakh Armenians. They stressed that these refugees must be free to exercise their right to return to their homes and their places of living, without any conditions, with international monitoring, and with due respect for their history, culture and for human rights.

They remain committed to all efforts directed towards the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, based on mutual recognition of sovereignty, inviolability of borders and territorial integrity of Armenia (29.800 km2) and Azerbaijan (86.600 km2), as mentioned in President Michel’s statements of 14 May and 15 July 2023. They called for the strict adherence to the principle of non-use of force and threat of use of force. They stressed the urgent need to work towards border delimitation based on the most recent USSR General Staff maps that have been provided to the sides, which should also be a basis for distancing of forces, and for finalizing the peace treaty and addressing all humanitarian issues.

They called for greater regional cooperation and for the re-opening of all borders, including the border between Armenia and Türkiye, as well as for the opening of regional connectivity links based on full respect of countries’ sovereignty and jurisdiction, as well as on the principles of equality and reciprocity.

The European leaders called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to release all detainees, and to cooperate to address the fate of missing persons and to facilitate demining work”.

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Granada.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the cooperation between Armenia and Greece, as well as the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region. In particular, the Prime Minister referred to the situation resulted by the forced deportation of more than 100,000 of our compatriots as a result of the ethnic cleansing policy implemented by Azerbaijan in Nagorno Karabakh.

The Prime Minister of Greece expressed willingness to provide humanitarian assistance to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and emphasized the need for the international community to take necessary steps to strengthen peace and stability in the South Caucasus.

Nikol Pashinyan also discussed the problems of the forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh and the steps being taken to solve them with the Prime Minister of Slovenia Robert Golob, the head of the Luxembourg government Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar and the Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre.

The interlocutors exchanged ideas also on other issues of mutual interest.

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Based on the results of the meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a joint statement was adopted. The statement particularly reads as follows,

“We met today in the city of Granada, in the margins of the European Political Community summit hosted by Spain.

We reiterated our condemnation of the military operation by Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and reaffirmed the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the basis of the 1991 Almaty declaration and the understanding that Armenia’s territory covers 29,800 km2 and Azerbaijan’s 86,600 km2. We also stressed that opening of regional connectivity links should be based on full respect of countries’ sovereignty and jurisdiction, as well as on the principles of equality and reciprocity.

Armenia and the EU are bound by shared political values and their commitment to a rules-based international order.

In these difficult times, the EU and Armenia stand shoulder to shoulder.

We are committed to further strengthen EU-Armenia relations.

As we discussed earlier this week, our immediate focus is to attend to the humanitarian needs of the over 100,000 Karabakh Armenians that have fled to Armenia. We discussed how to ensure maximum effectiveness of the humanitarian aid and other immediate support provided by the EU which will reach 10.45 million euros.

President von der Leyen also announced that the Commission is mobilising funding to allocate 15 million euros from its annual programme for Armenia to be used as budget support. This will allow the government of Armenia to address urgent socio-economic needs and support purchasing food and fuel.

In the longer run, the European Union and Armenia are determined to reinforce their economic ties, working to bring out the full potential of our Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. In particular, the EU Economic Investment Plan (EIP) for Armenia provides up to 2.6 billion euros to be used for investments in important infrastructure and other projects. The Commission and Armenia will redouble efforts to implement important projects. The Commission will also support Armenia’s participation in regional projects such as the Black Sea Electricity Cable. Finally, the Commission will step up technical assistance to Armenia, particularly in the areas of air safety and nuclear safety.

President von der Leyen informed of the preparations for a Joint EU-US event to support Armenia.

We will continue discussions on ways in which to strengthen further our relationship in the coming days”.

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the official dinner with his daughter Mariam Pashinyan in the Palace of Charles V.

King Pelipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia met the high-ranking guests of the third summit of the European Political Community. The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, welcomed the guests

Prime Minister Pashinyan's working visit to Spain has ended.