The launching of the joint European Union and Council of Europe project on “Strengthening institutional capacities to fight and prevent corruption in Armenia” took place on 24 September 2019 in Yerevan Armenia. Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin addressed the participants in the event and noted that for the European Union (EU) the fight against corruption has always been at the core of its agenda in Armenia and the EU is ready to further support the Republic of Armenia's strong stance against corruption.
The deputy minister of justice Srbuhi Galyan noted the importance of the cooperation among the Ministry of Justice, the European Union Delegation and the Council of Europe. She mentioned that the cooperation with the Council of Europe and the EU is very result oriented, and Armenia always benefits from high level expertise through this cooperation. She highlighted the importance of capacity building activities for all the newly created anticorruption bodies.She concluded by thanking the Council of Europe and the EU for the productive engagement and expressed her hope that the partnership will be continuous.
Mustafa Ferati, Head of Unit Unit for Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Economic Crime and Cooperation Division of Council of Europe outlined the Council of Europe’s engagement in supporting the Armenian authorities in the reform process and helping to ensure the democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights in line with Council of Europe standards and good practices. Recent meetings at highest level in both Strasbourg and Yerevan confirm this engagement. He noted that these objectives can be achieved through a comprehensive and far-reaching strategy based on three key pillars:
- stepping up efforts against corruption, including the creation of a new anti-corruption agencies with prevention and enforcement mandates and the adoption of new asset recovery legislation;
- improving judicial independence and modernising the justice system as a whole and;
- dealing with serious human rights violations and ending impunity.
He concluded by presenting the main objectives of project and its linkages with the obligations that Armenia has towards implementation of international conventions that the country has ratified as well as the obligations that come from the monitoring processes such as GRECO evaluations.