Armenian premier, European Commission chief discuss regional cooperation

Arminfo
20 Sep 04

YEREVAN

European Commission President Romano Prodi’s visit to Armenia
testifies to the increasing interest of the European Union in the
South Caucasus countries and it can give a new impetus to the further
development of relations between the EU and Armenia and the region as
a whole, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan said at a meeting
with European Commission President Romano Prodi on 18 September.

Prodi had arrived in Yerevan within the framework of a regional visit.

As the press service of the Armenian government told Arminfo news
agency, Andranik Markaryan, in particular, noted the importance of the
European Commission president’s visit to the region in the context of
including the South Caucasus countries in the initiative Expanded
Europe: New Neighbours. He said that this initiative of the EU would
create an opportunity for the regional countries to deepen and expand
relations with the EU and also to speed up the process of
democratization and social and economic reforms.

Informing the president of the European Commission of the steps
towards European integration, the Armenian prime minister spoke about
the work done and plans to boost bilateral trade and cooperation in
the spheres of science and research, and bring Armenian laws into line
with the EU legislation within the framework of the programme Expanded
Europe: New Neighbours. He said that Armenia considers the action plan
of the European Neighbourhood programme to be a definite step aimed at
implementing the Cooperation and partnership agreement. The national
action plan will be elaborated later. Andranik Markaryan noted that
Armenia was looking forward to the beginning of joint discussions and
drafting of the action plan and assured the president of the European
Commission that the Armenian authorities were ready to render
assistance in this regard.

For his part, Romano Prodi stressed that the European Commission was
ready to assist the South Caucasus countries in creating social
stability based on democratic values. He said that the European
Commission would prepare in the next months reports on the three
countries of the region to assess their progress in the sphere of
political and economic reforms and also in the peaceful settlement of
conflicts in the region.

The sides also discussed regional cooperation. The Armenian prime
minister put forward Armenia’s position, stressing the importance of
establishing good-neighbourly relations with all the neighbouring
countries. The prime minister and the president of the European
Commission discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to
Armenian-Turkish relations and a peaceful settlement to the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict. At the same time, they agreed that fully-fledged
integration into European structures will be in danger if the existing
problems in the region have not been resolved.

Discussing in this context the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, the sides
noted that the South Caucasus could ensure economic prosperity and
further progress only if peace and comprehensive regional cooperation
were established. Romano Prodi stressed that the European Commission
did not intend to play the role of a mediator in the settlement but it
would make serious efforts to settle the problem.