WE FEEL OURSELVES PART OF EUROPE, KOCHARIAN SAYS

Armenpress

WARSAW, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS: Addressing today the Council of Europe
Summit in Warsaw, Poland, Armenian president Robert Kocharian said
Europe is witnessing fundamental changes and the word “Europe” has
ceased to stand for a continent name only having transformed into
a political term, perceived largely as a new and unique model of a
commonwealth of states and nations.

According to him, the institutionalization of that process and the
psychological adaptation of Europeans to it go hand in hand, likely due
to the progress in information technologies. This process, according to
Kocharian, gives rise to a set questions, such as whether the European
integration process has geographic and cultural boundaries, and if
‘yes” where they are and in what way Europe is going to build its
relations with the rest of the world that has different ideologies and
traditions. Kocharian said answers to these and some other questions
depend largely on leaders of the states, present at the summit.

Referring to developments in Armenia, Kocharian said it is still at the
beginning of a complicated path of the European integration. According
to him, Armenia is set to meet all its Council of Europe membership
commitments by the end of this year. He said this process was difficult
but fruitful, backed by various segments of population.

Kocharian also said his government intends to deepen interaction with
the European Union as part of New Neighborhood Policy (ENP), which
he said opens new broad avenues to continue political and economic
reforms under the guidance of the EU.

“We feel ourselves as part of Europe and our cultural heritage is
part of the European common heritage and we are pursuing the path
of reforms not to win the praise of Europe but because we feel it is
the inner need of our country,” he said.

Kocharian also said Armenia believes in Europe with open borders,
without violence, blockades and refugees, a Europe where human rights
and the people’s right to free choice are respected, where “the present
is built on an objective evaluation of the past.” He said Armenia looks
at the prospect of Karabagh conflict resolution in this context. “Our
attempts for international recognition of the Armenian genocide are
also anchored on our belief in European values,” Kocharian said.