Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan today received the head of the EU delegation, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Andrea Victorin, who is completing the diplomatic mission in Armenia.

The minister highly appreciated the practical cooperation with the ambassador, emphasizing the latter's contribution to ensuring the smooth progress of joint social protection programs and the work carried out in crises.

Referring to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Mkrtchyan noted that today the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, including about 30,000 children and more than 9,000 people with disabilities, lack the necessary living conditions, and that now the active role of the international community is urgent to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

Regarding the cooperation with the EU, the minister noted: "Thanks to your active involvement, we have quite a respectable circle of interaction. There are enough institutional foundations to deepen further and develop the implementation of joint programs and initiatives in the field of social protection.
The ambassador also emphasized the importance of the works carried out jointly with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: "We really had a high level of cooperation with the Ministry. We have always tried to provide necessary support to Armenia, especially in crisis situations. I am confident that we will continue to combine our forces and ensure that joint initiatives are complementary to each other."

During the meeting, Andrea Viktorin also highly appreciated the cooperation of the ASF Ministry with civil society, emphasizing that the invested efforts and significant results are also noticeable in the strengthening of gender policy, the fight against family violence, and several other directions.

At the end of the meeting, the ambassador expressed his willingness to have continuous cooperation even after completing the EU mission.