South Caucasus countries not ready to become EU members, official says

Mediamax news agency
19 Sep 04

Yerevan, 19 September: European Commission President Romano Prodi
considers it “impossible” to speak today about prospects and possible
terms of the three South Caucasus countries’ membership of the
European Union [EU], Romano Prodi told a joint news conference with
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan in Yerevan today.

The president of the European Commission said that he had seen that
the South Caucasus countries “strongly wish to be close to Europe, to
be part of the European family”. However, Prodi continued, “great
historical disagreements” are very strong in the region.

He stressed that it was necessary to iron out these disagreements for
the full-fledged integration into Europe.

Prodi said that despite the large financial and technical aid which
the EU has been rendering to the countries of the region since they
gained their independence, today the South Caucasus is still facing
serious challenges. “You have a long and hard way to go,” Romano Prodi
said.

Romano Prodi noted that after including Armenia, Georgia and
Azerbaijan into the EU’s New Neighbourhood policy, the European
Commission started to work on a report on each of the three
countries. An individual action plan has been prepared on the basis of
the report. In this connection, Prodi noted, representatives of the
European Commission and national governments will work jointly on this
document “so that each of these countries can include their priorities
into the Individual Action plan”.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said that Romano Prodi’s
visit was “a very serious signal” of the EU’s readiness to deepen and
expand cooperation with the South Caucasus countries.