Frontex and Armenia have agreed the text of a new cooperation arrangement on border and migration management.
The Working Arrangement was formally initialled by Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens and Armenian Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan. It sets out how the two sides will work together on training, exchange of expertise, and risk analysis.
The initialling was witnessed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the margins of the first-ever EU–Armenia Summit, alongside other deliverables including an EU–Armenia Connectivity Partnership and a progress report on visa liberalisation.
Hans Leijtens, Executive Director of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, said: "Border management is built on practical cooperation, day by day. This arrangement gives us a clearer framework for the work we are already doing with Armenian colleagues: on training, on risk analysis, on the expertise that frontline officers actually need. That is what makes a difference at the border."
President von der Leyen, addressing the summit, said the arrangement would "strengthen cooperation on border and migration management" between the EU and Armenia.
What happens next
Initialling means the two sides have confirmed the text. It does not yet create any obligations, and the Working Arrangement is not yet in force. Several approval steps still lie ahead — including from the European Commission, the EU's data protection supervisor, and Frontex's own Fundamental Rights Officer and Management Board — before it can be signed.
Background: Frontex–Armenia cooperation
Frontex first signed a working arrangement with Armenia in 2012, then with the country's Security Council. The new arrangement is concluded with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and updates the framework in line with Frontex's expanded mandate. Recent activities have included a training on fundamental rights in border management, delivered to Armenian officers in Warsaw in February 2026, and Armenian participation in a forthcoming training on the Common Integrated Risk Analysis Model (CIRAM) in Warsaw on 12–14 May.
The Joint Declaration adopted at the summit welcomes the progress on the Frontex arrangement and commits to deeper cooperation between Armenia and the EU's justice and home affairs agencies, including Europol, Eurojust and the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats.
Background: the EU–Armenia Summit
The first-ever EU–Armenia Summit, held in Yerevan on 4–5 May 2026, brought together the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission, and the Prime Minister of Armenia. It was the first bilateral summit between the EU and Armenia since the EU–Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement entered into force in 2021.
