Exploring V4 Experience for the EU-Armenia Cooperation
The grant holder and main project coordinator is the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs—AIISA, an independent Yerevan based think tank. The coordinator of the project is Styopa Safaryan, AIISA founder and director.
The Project will be implemented with the support of the following research institutes and think tanks from V4 countries:
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Institute for Politics and Society Martinské 2, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic |
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Tolstého 5, Bratislava 811 06, Slovak Republic |
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Gałczyńskiego 5, Warsaw, Poland
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Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy Dutka Ákos utca 72, Budapest, Hungary |
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The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
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SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
The project includes policy discussions with V4 experts and preparation of a policy paper on the EU-Armenia relations.
Current issues: While the EU continues supporting Armenia on its reform path through the implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a new EU-Armenia Partnership Agenda, aiming to boost reforms and enhance cooperation in all areas, is in the making, as was proposed at the joint EU-US-Armenia high level meeting on April 5. The partners aim to expand cooperation, including in key sectors such as political reforms, economic development and humanitarian support, and plan to expand the partnership in mobility, governance, law enforcement, trade, connectivity, agriculture, energy, and technology. The project aims at contributing to the policy development by means of analysis of the Visegrad Four states' know-how.
THE MAIN GOAL OF THE PROJECT
The project will involve Armenian civil servants and policy experts in series of consultations and discussions with experts from Visegrad Four states, to facilitate transfer of experiences and know-how relevant from both the points of view of V4 states’ transition experience and current policies, and the experts’ experience regarding advice and assistance provided by V4 to the Eastern Partnership states recently granted EU membership candidacy status. In addition to stimulation of policy-focused discussions, the project will also involve experts from Armenian think tanks active in the fields of policy reform and European integration in the preparation of a comprehensive policy paper with recommendations towards further cooperation with V4 states in the context of Armenia’s reform and European integration vision for the short and mid-term perspective. The paper in Armenian and English would be presented and distributed among public officials, policy experts, policymakers, civil society organisations, higher education institutions and other relevant audiences in Armenia, V4 states, and beyond, including other EU members’ diplomatic missions in Armenia, think tanks, and EU institutions.
ADDED VALUE AND INNOVATION ELEMENT OF THE PROJECT
The project would allow to keep developing the cooperation with the V4 partners, using their know-how and practical tools, which are evolving based on the partners' experience in their respective countries and other regions such as Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership. It would also use the experience from our previous analysis and publications, as well as advocacy for Armenia's reform agenda and prospects for European integration. The project will consider the regional situation after granting EU membership candidacy status to several Eastern Partnership states.
The project will also allow to develop the already established cooperation with the V4 partners and to combine the partner institutions’ experiences and expertise, as well as to compare policy approaches in Armenia and V4 states, using the partners’ know-how. Besides relying on V4 experiences, the project will additionally expose the current stage and possibilities of deepening the EU-Armenia cooperation to expert audiences in V4 states.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
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30/09/2024–01/10/2024 |
Introductory conference: The EU-Armenia relations and V4's possible contribution |
Full-day conference with Armenian policymakers and experts and online contributions by V4 partner experts |
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04/10/2024–13/10/2024 |
Online seminars |
Twelve 2-hour discussions with V4 experts on mobility, governance, trade, connectivity, energy, technology, etc |
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20/09/2024–20/12/2024 |
Policy paper with recommendations |
Drafting Policy Paper with short policy briefs on the subtopics |
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16/01/2025–17/01/2025 |
Presentation of the Policy Paper |
Final presentation of the paper and discussion about the recommendations |
