EU aid to South Caucasus depends on progress in conflicts settlement – envoy

Mediamax news agency
30 Jun 04

YEREVAN

“My visit to Stepanakert shows that the European Union has not
forgotten about Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagornyy Karabakh and that the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict is important to us,” the special
representative of the EU for the South Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, told
a briefing following his two-day visit to Nagornyy Karabakh, a
Mediamax correspondent has reported from Stepanakert .

Talvitie said that the EU is interested in stability in the region,
the establishment of an atmosphere of confidence and the
implementation of reconstruction programmes. This will very much
depend on the progress in the settlement of conflicts existing in the
region, he added.

“We first supposed to start implementing programmes at the final stage
of the settlement, but now we intend to render assistance to the
region as soon as certain progress is achieved in the peace process,”
Talvitie said.

He said that he last visited Nagornyy Karabakh 10 years ago, and
expressed his satisfaction with the fact that “thanks to your efforts,
you have achieved considerable changes in many spheres”. “This meets
the interests of the European Union and of the conflicting parties and
testifies to stability in the region,” he stressed.

Talvitie met NKR President Arkadiy Gukasyan, National Assembly
Chairman Oleg Yesayan and Prime Minister Anushavan Daniyelyan in
Stepanakert today.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress