The round table discussion was launched today, chaired by Anna Vardapetyan, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia on the topic “Armenia and Eurojust: How to cooperate with a prosecutor seconded from the Republic of Armenia on issues of cooperation with Eurojust”.

The discussion is being held in cooperation with the Center for International Legal Cooperation operating in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The goal of the round table discussion is to raise the awareness of the participants about the main functions of Eurojust (European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation), as well as prosecutors on issues of cooperation with Eurojust in the scope of preliminary investigation and criminal prosecution of criminal proceedings initiated for transnational crimes, as well as to present and discuss the conditions for submitting an application for assistance in order to obtain access to Eurojust tools, etc.

Anna Vardapetyan, Prosecutor General welcomed and thanked for accepting the invitation to participate in that important event of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia, for participating in the round table discussion and stated:

“The Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia strives to ensure close cooperation with international and regional professional structures, to bring the professional skills capabilities and character of the prosecutor closer to international standards.

The Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union and Eurojust “On Cooperation between the Competent Authorities for Cooperation of the Republic of Armenia and Eurojust in the Field of Legal Cooperation in Criminal Proceedings” was signed in Brussels on April 5, 2024. Subsequently, the Working Arrangement “On the Implementation of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Justice and Eurojust” was signed.

All necessary internal legal procedures have already been conducted by us and we plan to second a prosecutor to Eurojust in 2026.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to underline our recently established, but consistent and effective cooperation with the Center for International Legal Cooperation in the Netherlands. I also express my gratitude to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Republic of Armenia for its support for this initiative.

I would like to express my special gratitude to our colleagues from Eurojust for accepting the invitation and visiting Armenia. This is an unprecedented event in Armenia, and I am confident that it will further contribute to the strengthening of institutional relations with Eurojust and more active cooperation.

Conducting this event, we wanted to familiarize representatives of national authorities with the main functions of prosecutors on assignment to Eurojust in the context of the fight against transnational organized crime, before sending a prosecutor to The Hague.”

Deputy Head of Mission Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Armenia, Thymen Kouwenaar, attached importance to organizing a discussion of such content and emphasized that Armenia is an important partner of the Netherlands and our bilateral relations have risen to the level of strategic cooperation.

Bostjan Skrlec, Chair of the Board on Relations with Partners, Eurojust, thanked for the invitation to participate in the working discussion and emphasized that the “journey” of Eurojust with Armenia has been very productive and meaningful.

The roundtable discussion was also attended by Domenico Foti, Project Manager of the Center for International Legal Cooperation, Florina Bisog, Legal Officer, EU and International Affairs of the Eurojust, Myroslava Krasnoborova, Liaison Prosecutor for Ukraine at Eurojust, Rudolf Christoffersen, Liaison Prosecutor for Norway at Eurojust, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Interior and Foreign Affairs and law enforcement agencies, in particular, prosecutors of the Department for International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor's Office and prosecutors who carry out supervisory and control functions in cases of fraud, cybercrime, drug trafficking, money laundering, as well as confiscation of property of illegal origin.

During the event, prosecutors seconded from Norway and Ukraine, the Latvian National Member, as well as representatives of Eurojust, will present the specifics and opportunities of working with prosecutors on cooperation issues. The procedure and conditions for using the Eurojust toolkit, as well as how to apply to Eurojust for the purpose of the coordinated exchange of operational information in the scope of proceedings, will also be presented.