Armenia has made a great deal of reform progress in key areas in recent years – for instance in promoting democratic rights, transforming the election system, and with regard to media freedom and freedom of opinion, an independent judiciary and anti-corruption. Armenia has been a bilateral partner country of the BMZ since 2022.
The country is committed to implementing its partnership agreement with the European Union (External link) and is actively involved in the Eastern Partnership (External link). This partnership is part of the European Neighbourhood Policy; through it, the EU works with its neighbours in eastern Europe and the southern Caucasus to jointly achieve the fullest possible political association and economic integration.
At the same time, Armenia is still facing tremendous challenges. The war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh in autumn 2020 and the displacement of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023 shook Armenia to its foundations. In addition, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has shown that Armenia’s close ties with Russia both economically and in terms of energy supply have resulted in a great unilateral dependence. In these challenging times in which Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is not only causing immense suffering in Ukraine but is also jeopardising the stability of the entire region, close cooperation with the reform-oriented countries of the Eastern Partnership is especially important.
Strategy for development cooperation with transformation partners in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus
File type
PDF
|
Date of status
12/2023
|
File size
719 KB,
Pages
9
Pages
|
Accessibility
Accessible
That is why the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) offered Armenia in 2022 to start bilateral development cooperation. The aim is to actively assist Armenia in its ambitious reform efforts and support the country’s efforts to move closer to the EU.
In November 2023, Germany and Armenia concluded the first bilateral government negotiations on development cooperation in Yerevan. The two countries agreed to cooperate on developing renewable energies, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and strengthening administrations in rural areas. The refugees that have come into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh are posing huge challenges for the country. The two countries agreed to deepen their cooperation on the medium to long-term integration of the refugees.
The BMZ has been supporting Armenia since 1992 in its transition towards a social market economy, the rule of law and democracy. Cooperation has so far mainly taken place as part of regional programmes in the southern Caucasus region.
