AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
March 23 2006

New EU envoy to tackle ‘frozen conflicts’

The newly-appointed European Union envoy on the South Caucasus will
assume new credentials to address conflicts in the region.

Peter Semneby said the organization is interested in a closer
involvement in the resolution of “frozen conflicts” and his mandate
has been expanded with regard to such issues. “I will be closely
following all aspects of the disputes and further prepare
recommendations for the EU leadership,” he told a news conference in
Baku on Friday.
Semneby said the recommendations will outline EU’s further steps and
the organization’s support may involve peacekeeping missions and
rehabilitation of territories. The EU envoy continued that another
change in his mandate will envision transferring the headquarters of
the EU representative from Finland, where the office of his
predecessor, Heikki Talvitie, was located, to Brussels. The measure
will help coordinate the activity of various European organizations,
Semneby said. The Swedish diplomat underscored the EU’s increasing
interest in the region. He reminded that the two S Caucasus states
[Azerbaijan and Georgia] are seeking EU membership, while Turkey,
which is already in talks on the matter, borders on all the three
regional states. Semneby said another reason for EU’s growing
interest is the three countries’ participation in the New
Neighborhood Policy. Talks are underway on preparing relevant Action
Plans in order to ensure these countries’ compliance with European
standards. The upcoming approval of these documents will boost ties
between the EU and regional countries, he added. ‘Chances for peace
accord’ The European Union envoy cited chances for an
Armenia-Azerbaijan accord on Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh this year,
despite the latest unsuccessful round of presidential talks, which
was followed by Azerbaijan’s threats to resort to military action. “I
still hope there are ways of finding a solution to the conflict in
2006. War would not favor any of the sides and no one can be
interested in the resumption of hostilities,” Semneby said. He said,
however, that meeting the “maximum demands” put forth by the
conflicting sides is impossible, which necessitates adjustments in
their positions in order to strike a deal. Semneby said the European
Union is ready to send peacekeepers to the conflict zone, but
Azerbaijan and Armenia should reach an accord first. “The EU may
carry out a peacekeeping mission both independently and in coalition
with other international organizations. But without an agreement, our
views on the issue could be only hypothetical.” The envoy said that
the EU has no intention to meddle in the authority of the mediating
OSCE Minsk Group.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress