Representatives of the Department of State are sure that Armenia has a strong political will with regard to forming democratic institutions

On 7-11 June 2021, First Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Kristinne Grigoryan and Adviser for International Legal Co-operation of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Amalya Hovsepyan were on a working visit in Washington. The purpose of the visit was to present to the American counterparts the process of democratic reforms in Armenia by the logic of the Armenian-American strategic dialogue, to discuss the existing challenges and to expand the scope of co-operation in the justice sector. Within the scope of the visit, Kristinne Grigoryan had several meetings with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia Laura Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour Kara McDonald and her Deputy Assistant for Europe Wendy Silverman. The First Deputy Minister presented to the counterparts the process of democratic reforms, the results thereof in this stage, success of establishment of democratic institutions for fight against corruption, the main directions of police reforms and the forthcoming programmes. The interlocutors touched upon both the following actions and the challenges of process of the reforms. The USA partners highly appreciated the efforts of the Government to ensure continuation of the process of reforms in conditions of pandemic of 2020 and then the difficulties of war, as well as the results already recorded. The interlocutors of the USA side noted that the process of implementation of reforms by other states in the region have already identified general challenges for the institutional fight against corruption up to now, whereas in case of Armenia they recorded the presence of strong political will with regard to forming democratic capable institutions. The representatives of the Department of State noted that the administration of the USA president considers the corruption as a threat posing to national security, and they follow the steps – taken in this field by the Government of the Republic of Armenia – of institutional and fundamental nature with affinity. The First Deputy Minister also met with Acting Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia of the US Agency for International Development Margot Ellis and her Deputy Alexander Sokolowski. Kristinne Grigoryan expressed gratitude to the colleagues of the USAID for traditional high-level co-operation. Among numerous successful programmes, Deputy Minister Grigoryan indicated the support programme provided in the preliminary stage of formation of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, as well as the one of the "Centre for Legislation Development and Legal Research" Foundation of the Ministry of Justice, which is a good example of institutional capacity building and dissemination thereof in the state administration system. The colleagues of the USAID presented the details of the launch of two large multi-million dollar support programme aimed at reforms in judicial and legal sector and anti-corruption field. Kristinne Grigoryan also had working discussions with Deputy Assistant of Director of the State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Kate Stspila, Director of the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) Gregory Ducot and his team in Washington. The issues of supporting reforms in the police sector, including establishment of the new Patrol Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the institutional establishment of the Anti-Corruption Committee were in the axis of discussions. The interlocutors reaffirmed their intention to continue the support provided by the U.S. Government in these directions in 2020 and to expand it as needed. During the visit, a remote meeting also took place with Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Jackie Speier, Vice-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Adam Schiff, senior advisers staff members to the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. The representatives of the legislative body were interested in the process of democratic reforms and the results recorded.