European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is preparing to travel to Armenia next week, POLITICO reported citing three people familiar with the plans.
The EU delegation, which will also include Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, will visit Armenia in a high-profile show of support for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after his Civil Contract party’s decisive victory in the June 7 parliamentary election, according to POLITICO.
Commissioner Marta Kos announced earlier this month that she would travel to Armenia on July 5, but the new report says the trip led by President Ursula von der Leyen will likely take place on July 1.
The July 1 visit, the plans for which have not yet been finalized, comes as Pashinyan seeks to “cement Armenia's shift away from Moscow” and deepen ties with the European Union following a vote widely viewed as a referendum on the country's “geopolitical future”, the newspaper reported.“We have seen the country under intense and consistent pressure from Russia; a visit would send a strong signal of support, following on from the concrete support already delivered,” said one EU official working on the prospective trip, granted anonymity by POLITICO to speak frankly, as were the other people with knowledge of the planned trip.They added it would send the message that “Europe is here for you.”
The trip has other repercussions for Brussels, as the College of Commissioners meeting scheduled for July 1 has been canceled, according to two of the officials. As a result, several legislative proposals that had been due for adoption have been delayed or otherwise affected.
Among them are the Commission's Public Procurement Act, a planned overhaul of EU tendering rules, as well as initiatives on the defense single market, innovation and livestock farming, as POLITICO first reported.
The Commission has not yet announced a new date for these files.Next week's trip will be von der Leyen's second to Armenia in less than two months.
The Commission president was in Yerevan in May for the European Political Community summit, which Armenia hosted, before taking part in the inaugural EU-Armenia summit.Last week, the EU disbursed €34 million to help offset the impact of new Russian restrictions on Armenian exports and support efforts to diversify trade toward European markets.
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