The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, today announced a substantial Resilience and Growth package for Armenia, to underpin the Armenia-EU Partnership Agenda.
The announcement was made after a trilateral meeting between the EU, the US, and Armenia, held in Brussels.
“We are delivering on a promise we made last October: the promise to stand shoulder to shoulder with Armenia, and at the same time, the promise to set a vision for the future of our partnership,” Von der Leyen told a press conference.
To underpin this partnership, the EU is proposing a €270 million Resilience and Growth Plan for Armenia for 2024-2027: €200 million in grant assistance and €70 million in grant funding to leverage investments in connectivity, resilience and business development.
“We will invest in making the Armenian economy and society more robust and resistant to shocks. We will support your businesses, your talents, in particular your small and medium enterprises, so that we can help them to grow, to innovate and to access new markets. And we will invest in key infrastructure projects,” Von der Leyen said.
She said the EU was ready to support the Black Sea electricity cable that “can notably bring clean, renewable energy into Europe”. In parallel, the EU will continue investing in Armenia’s renewable energy production and in better interconnections with Georgia.
The European Commission will also propose new measures for aviation and nuclear safety, and for trade diversification.
The new support package builds on the existing Economic and Investment Plan from the European Union for Armenia that, according to Von der Leyen, has already mobilised over half a billion euros in investments.
Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed the measures that Armenia has taken against the circumvention of EU sanctions against Russia – “in particular, to make sure that lethal equipment and technologies do not end up in the hands of the Russian military”. This shows, she said, that the European Union and Armenia are increasingly aligned in values and interests.
She also said that the EU was ready to do even more to support the long-term integration of refugees displaced from Nagorno Karabakh, in addition to the more than €30 million allocated since September last year.
