“IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CHOOSE NEIGHBORS, ONE MUST BE ABLE TO LIVE ALONG WITH THEM:” HERMAN DE CROO
YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia is a ship, that has had a
difficult and hard life on waves of history, Herman De Croo, the
Chairman of the Chamber of Representatives of the Kingdom of Belgium
stated at the end of his official visit, at the press-conference
held in Yerevan on April 5. According to the high rank guest,
during the two days of being in Yerevan, the delegation headed by
him came to the conclusion that Armenians realize the fact of their
being Armenian with great pride. “But no matter what kind of beliefs
we have, no matter what religion we have, no matter what kind of
religious beliefs and culture we have, no matter how much we are
proud of ourselves, we cannot live alone, we live in the society,” he
mentioned. Armenia must come to that to be able to become a flexible
and prospering country. Presence of high quality workforce, human
potential can greatly contribute to that. The delegation is in Armenia
with the goal to assist, to help, “sometimes even to give advice ,”
he emphasized. Attaching importance to the South Caucasian region,
the high rank guest mentioned that he was on a visit in Turkey three
months ago, and he will also visit Azerbaijan soon. He expressed a hope
that it will give an opportunity to understand what the situation on
the region is like and what kind of solutions may be reached. Touching
upon the hard relations present among Armenia and its two neighbouring
countries, Turkey and Azerbaijan, De Croo mentioned that, just as in
one’s life, it is impossible to choose neighbours, one must be able
to live along with them. According to him, one may figuratively say
that doors of three neighbouring houses must usually be opened to
a street, but the specifity of the Armenian house is that, during
different historical periods, the door of the last one has been
opened to a neighbour’s garden, and one must be able to come out
to a street through it. He is sure, on the example of his country,
that settlement of issues like this is possible. Belgium has twice
been conquered by Germany only in the 20th century. In 60 years
after the World War II, Belgium and Germany are EU members today,
the use a single currency, and Brussels is presented as the capital
of Europe. According to him, the meetings with authorities of Armenia
showed that they want to solve all issues present in the region by
means of dialogue. Summing up the results of the visit, Herman De
Croo and RA NA Chairman Artur Baghdasarian expressed confidence that
the visit will stimulate cooperation between the two countries both
in the sphere of parliamentary diplomacy and economy, health care,
cultural spheres.