The European Union has decided to invite member states and likeminded partners to join forces and maximise the impact of the EU’s support to Syunik under the Resilient Syunik Team Europe Initiative, the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia said in response to an inquiry from ARMENPRESS, presenting details on the Resilient Syunik Team Europe Initiative, which was launched on January 18.

The Resilient Syunik Team Europe initiative is the joint undertaking of the European Union, the European Investment Bank and EU Member states Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden, with Switzerland also joining as an external partner.

The main objective of this initiative is to contribute to the sustainable socioeconomic and institutional development of the Syunik region, taking coordinated action in line the regional development priorities of the Government of Armenia, as well as the priorities outlined within the Flagship Initiative on Building Resilience in the Southern Regions of Armenia under EU’s Economic and Investment Plan. 

Asked why the EU has chosen particularly Syunik province for the project and why EU member states attach importance to Syunik – which is the target of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev’s territorial aspirations against Armenia – the EU responded by saying that two years ago in the post-war context the European Union started a discussion with the Government of Armenia on supporting the regions that were in most need, those affected to a large extend by the consequences of the war. “The vast needs in Syunik were brought to our attentions and the discussions with the Government and regional authorities were eventually spelled out in EU-Armenia bilateral programing, a Flagship Initiative on Building Resilience in the Southern Regions of Armenia under EU’s Economic and Investment Plan.  The European Union has decided to invite member states and likeminded partners to join forces and maximise the impact of our support to Syunik under the Resilient Syunik Team Europe Initiative,” the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia added.

In particular, the Resilient Syunik Team Europe Initiative aims to contribute to 

• Improved business environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and enhanced private sector competitiveness,
• improved access to high quality, people-centric public services
• prioritisation of green regional development and increased protection, sustainable use and restoration of biodiversity

The EU anticipates the following outcomes due to implementation of the Team Europe Initiative in Syunik:

The initiative has an initial approximate five-year budget of €51 million. It is a flexible mechanism, which can be further expanded and is open for EU Member States to join with new initiatives to promote the development of the Syunik region.

During the Resilient Syunik Team Europe Initiative launch event two grant contracts were signed.

The “R2D Syunik: Recovery, Resilience, and Development for Syunik ’’project is co-funded by the European Union and the Austrian Development Cooperation and implemented by the Austrian Development Agency. The EUR 11 ml project aims to enhance competitiveness of MSMEs and to support rehabilitation of sustainable small-scale community infrastructure in Syunik.

The “Partnerships for Syunik. Enhanced Community-based Social Services’’ is co-funded by the European Union and implemented by People in Need, Caritas Armenia and Winnet Armenia. The EUR 1.6 ml project aims to contribute to delivery of financially sustainable community-based social services in Syunik through effective cooperation of civil society and local authorities.

“The objective of the initiative is to contribute to resilience of Syunik by supporting the sustainable socioeconomic and institutional development of the Syunik region,” the EU delegation said.