On 22 July, the outgoing EU ambassador to Armenia Piotr Switalski held a farewell press conference in which he reflected on the relations between the EU and Armenia.

 He noted that the EU and Armenia enjoyed a very effective cooperation during his mandate. “I am convinced that the EU enjoyed Armenia’s positive attitude, which I highly appreciate. My message is the following – defend your freedom, reveal false information, differentiate between facts and opinions, fight against hate speech, and remember me well,” he said.

He stressed that the EU and Armenia have friendly, active dialogue on the highest level. “The Armenia-EU enhanced agreement has already entered the implementation phase. I am convinced that the Armenian society must attentively follow the process of its implementation. We have significantly raised the level of financial assistance addressed for Armenia’s development. Our cooperation is on the right path. I am convinced that the Armenian people appreciate it.”

Switalski praised the “Velvet Revolution” and the changes it brought to the country. “A very positive phenomena took place. First of all a clear progress toward democracy took place. The first step was the elections. With the latest elections Armenia has ensured an unprecedented level of democratic development. You may be proud of it.” He also stressed that the fight against corruption was the major milestone of the new government. “The feeling of impunity has been eliminated. Previously some people though that they are above the law. I think common citizens greatly appreciated that they have got rid of the feeling that there are privileged people,” he said.

As for the contemporary challenges in the country, the diplomat stressed that the EU clearly supports the reforms in the country’s legal-judicial sector. “We are really ready to ensure political and financial assistance as well as consultation on the way of creating a clean, independent judicial system. The EU is ready to provide measurable financial assistance for the process of these reforms. The issue was discussed a few days ago. The discussion was very constructive. We are speaking about direct assistance and a multi-million assistance program which is being extended for the upcoming three to four years,” he highlighted.

Addressing the opposition’s criticism accusing the incumbent authorities of attempts to create a non-independent judiciary system, Switalski stressed the importance of respecting the country’s constitution and the international commitments and standards in realizing the reforms. He called for adequate steps towards creating truly independent courts free from any unnecessary intervention and ensuring the separation of the branches of power. The diplomat said he does not presently see any concerns in terms of intentional attempts to undermine the judiciary.

Speaking on the financial assistance that the EU will give to Armenia, Switalski announced that within the framework of the bilateral assistance program in 2019 the EU support for Armenia will reach 70 million Euros in comparison to the previous 35 million Euros. He said that constructive negotiations are being held between the Armenian government and the EU officials, but did not want to reveal to what these 70 million Euros are going to be allocated.

The potential visa liberalization deal with Armenia was also touched upon. “It is necessary to be patient and continue the efforts. If you do not violate the term of Schengen visa while travelling, if you do not apply for asylum and try to abuse the free medical services, everything will go in the right direction,” adviced Switalski.

Switalski talked about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well, assuring that the EU’s position on the resolution of the conflict remains unchanged. “We believe that the conflict has no military solution. We greatly contribute to the actions of the OSCE Minsk Group. Nothing has changed in our position which we have expressed multiple times. I am convinced, that there is no need to worry that the EU will change its position,” the departing ambassador said.

Switalski’s speech drove certain observers to come to conclusions in regard to Armenia’s efforts to cope with the EU standards. According to Anna Karapetyan the director of the Hayatsk think tank, Switalski’s farewell speech implies that the Armenian government needs to put serious efforts in preserving the dynamics of growth of financial assistance provided by the EU to Armenia. “The process of getting more EU financial assistance showed that the Armenian authorities have realized and corrected the mistake in their approaches and started contacting the EU by outlining clear programs,” she said.

She also drew attention to the fact that Switalski only mentioned the country’s legal-judicial reforms in his speech, but not the programs related to transitional justice or the vetting of judges. Another troublesome point regarded the visa liberalization issue. “It was previously stated that the Armenian side has ended its work. While now he stated that the Armenian authorities are working with Georgia to pick up lessons from their experience. It is a negative tendency and means that we agree to the approach of living through the negative experiences of other countries. Even if the Armenian side agreed to speed-up the process, politically it is a rather worrying approach,” she noted.