The Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Moratinos, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, will meet President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian later in the day. A ministry statement said nothing about the agenda of the talks.
According to Michael Kambeck, secretary general of the Brussels-based group European Friends of Armenia, the ongoing Turkish-Armenian rapprochement will be a key focus of the talks. The group last month called for the EU’s more active involvement in the Western-backed process.
Moratinos is also expected to discuss with the Armenian leaders Armenia’s growing ties with the EU stemming from the bloc’s Eastern Partnership program. Kambeck told RFE/RL that he will hold a separate meeting with Yerevan-based EU experts advising various Armenian government agencies on reforms stemming from the cooperation scheme.
“Armenia is currently the only country where the European Union is implementing such a project,” Kambeck said. “In the past, such advisory groups operated only in countries that applied for EU membership.” Moratinos’s meeting with the experts will therefore underline the EU’s commitment to forging closer links with Armenia, he added.