On 5-6 September 2014, RSC Director Richard Giragosian participated in a two-day joint workshop on “Strategies and Models for Rapprochement with the European Union,” organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in cooperation with the Committee on European Integration of the Parliament of Georgia and the Association “European Time” NGO. Facilitated by Dr. Canan Atilgan, the head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in the South Caucasus, the workshop was attended by parliamentary staff members from Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
.RSC Director Richard Giragosian delivered a presentation on regional developments, with a focus on Armenia’s decision to sacrifice its Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of a stated commitment of joining the Eurasian Economic Union instead. Other speakers included Viktor Dolidze, the Chairman of the Georgian Parliamentary Committee on European Integration of the Parliament, Georgia Boris Iarochevitch, the Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, Alexander Baramidze, Deputy Georgian Minister of Justice, Revaz Chkheidze, Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Helen Koshtaria from Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS).
The presentations were followed by a discussion of the models of rapprochement with the European Union and a review of each country’s political and economic agendas after signing the Association Agreements.