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Nikol Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party have seemingly rejected the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the European Union and Armenia, considering it a legacy of the former authorities, Taguhi Tovmasyan, a lawmaker from the opposition Pativ Unem bloc, said on Wednesday.

The MP, who heads the National Assembly Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, recently met with Michele Dinelli, the project manager, and the experts of the program on support to Armenia’s Ministry of Justice in the legal approximation process within the framework of the CEPA.

“I considered it laudable that the EU is actively discussing the issue of the implementation of the agreement, takes steps to bring it to life, as it is very essential for Armenia,” she said in a statement.

“The agreement was signed in November 2017, and it has become dusty on the shelves for years. It seems that the current authority, rejecting the former ones, also rejected the mentioned international agreement signed before the revolution. Under this agreement the new laws must be developed in compliance with the requirements of the agreement, while, as I mentioned in the meeting, today laws not following from the principles of the agreement are adopted. Draft law on criminalizing grave insult may appear as an example.

“The agreement also clearly states that the parties adopt that the regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be based on the principles and goals enshrined in the UN Charter and the OSCE Helsinki Final Act, particularly, refraining from the threat or use of force, the territorial integrity of states and the principles of equal rights and self-determination of nations also taking into account the EU's commitment to support the regulation process. And we have lost this way ourselves for a long time.

“I would like to add that it is necessary not to conform CEPA with the situation in Armenia, but to try to conform the current situation in Armenia with the principles of democracy, that is necessary not to try to adapt to the Armenian reality, but to lead Armenia to democratization.

"Michele Dinelli thanked for the reception and noted that the goal of the CEPA program is to assist the Government of Armenia in implementing law approximation actions. In the project manager’s words, the Government of Armenia has pledged itself to carry out the requirements provided by the agreement.

“I expressed my willingness to try every possible means to support the process of the implementation of the agreement within the frames of my authority,” reads the statement.