There is cautious optimism in relations with Hungary - Deputy  Minister

ArmInfo.Armenia will continue cooperation with the European Union in such areas as  intensifying political dialogue, humanitarian cooperation aimed  primarily at overcoming the consequences of Azerbaijan's aggression  against Artsakh in 2020, and resolving issues related to the  withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign territory of  Armenia.

On November 2, during the hearings in the commissions of the  National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on the draft state  budget of the country for 2023, Deputy Foreign Minister of the  Republic of Armenia Paruyr Hovhannisyan stated this.

He noted that next year steps will be taken to deepen cooperation  with various EU bodies and fully fulfill the obligations assumed,  including assistance in the implementation of reform programs, as  well as to expand the legal framework and overcome economic shocks.  Next year, as noted by the Deputy Minister, it is planned to hold a  meeting of the EU statutory bodies, including a meeting of the  Armenia-EU Partnership Council, which will be held in Brussels, a  meeting of the Trade Partnership Council in Yerevan.

Within the framework of inter-parliamentary cooperation, the Deputy  Minister continued, it is also planned to continue meetings in the  adopted formats, including the meeting of the Armenia-EU Inter-  Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, the meeting of the Committees  and the Bureau of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

Within the framework of the Eastern Partnership program, in 2023, the  EU will assist Armenia in the implementation of programs for the  development of small and medium-sized businesses, the construction of  the North-South highway, the introduction of innovative technologies,  the strengthening of the Syunik region of the republic, the Green  Yerevan program, etc. A new area for cooperation will be the  development of partnerships within the framework of the EU monitoring  mission on the borders of the country.

The Deputy Minister also informed about the continuation of the  process of discussions on facilitating the visa regime between  Armenia and the EU. The problem here rests on the post-COVID period  and the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, in connection with which there are  fears in the EU about a massive influx of migrants. A number of EU  countries are taking an extremely cautious approach to the issue of  facilitating the visa regime with Armenia. Nevertheless, as  Hovhannisyan noted, this issue remains on the agenda.  The Deputy  Minister expressed hope for progress on this issue next year.

The Deputy Minister also noted that Armenia is ready to resolve  issues related to the problem of frozen relations with Hungary, but  additional steps are needed. He recalled that five Armenian prisoners  of war were repatriated from Azerbaijan last year with the assistance  of Hungary. After that, Budapest also took steps to help the school  named after Gurgen Margaryan and provided Armenia with vaccines  against COVID, and most recently, a renovated Armenian Catholic  church opened in the Hungarian capital. "I think there is cautious  optimism in this issue," said Paruyr Hovhannisyan.

To recall, since August 31, 2012, all official contacts between  Armenia and Hungary have been frozen.  The reason for Yerevan's  diplomatic demarche was the extradition of Azerbaijani army officer  Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan by Budapest. In 2004, in Budapest, on the  basis of xenophobia, he brutally killed senior lieutenant of the  Armenian army Gurgen Markaryan. Young officers studied English  together at the Hungarian National Defense University as part of the  NATO Partnership for Peace program. Safarov killed the sleeping  Markaryan with an ax. On August 31, 2012, Ramil Safarov surrendered  to the Azerbaijani side. Upon his arrival in Baku, he was pardoned by  the decree of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.