On 6-7 December 2018, the National assembly of the Republic of Armenia hosted the 2nd Working Meeting of Secretaries General of Parliamentary Administrations of the Eastern Partnership Countries in Yerevan, Armenia. The Meeting attended by the Chief of Staff-Secretary General National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Mr Ara Saghatelyan, Secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia, Mr Givi Mikanadze, Secretary General of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Mrs Ala Popescu and the Acting Secretary General of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Mr Petro Bodnar.

 

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Mr Ara Babloyan welcomed the Secretaries General of Parliament of the Eastern Partnership Countries. The Chief of Staff-Secretary General of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Mr Ara Saghatelyan stressed the importance of regional cooperation among parliamentary administrations of the Eastern Partnership region and expressed the commitment of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia to further maintain active involvement and contribution in developing a sustainable cooperation under the TBILISI Memorandum.

 

In the framework of the 2nd Working Meeting, the very first election of a Chairing Country of the Network of Secretaries General of Parliament of the Eastern Partnership Countries, established within the Tbilisi Memorandum format, was held. The secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia, Mr Givi Mikanadze was elected to chair the Network for a one-year tenure of 1 October 2018 – 1 October 2019.

 

At the Meeting, Mr Mikanadze presented the proposal to create a sub-platform within the established regional framework, solely dedicated to the parliamentary research activities. The Secretary General of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Mrs Ala Popescu stressed the importance of maintaining the research cooperation structured and therefore, proposed to jointly elaborate a regulation document to better assist the exchange of information among parties.

 

The Meeting concluded with the signing of the Annex to the TBILISI Memorandum, further referred to as the YEREVAN Annex, in the framework of which the Eastern Partnership Parliaments’ Research Network (EPPRN) was established. The aim of the EPPRN is to conduct joint research and analytical activities and to facilitate the exchange of information among the parliamentary administrations of the Eastern Partnership countries.

 

The Joint Address to the Ambassadors of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine was signed by the Secretaries General of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, the Parliament of Georgia, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and the Acting Secretary General of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in support to extension of the German assistance to the TBILISI Memorandum cooperation.

 

The 2nd Working Meeting of Secretaries General of Parliamentary Administrations of the Eastern Partnership Countries was complemented with the presence of H.E. Mr. Bernhard Matthias Kiesler, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia and representatives of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.