PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
0033 Yerevan, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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May 11, 2006
ACNIS Takes Part in Vilnius Conference 2006
Vilnius–Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
director of research Stiopa Safarian and director of administration Karapet
Kalenchian represented Armenia respectively at the NGO and the Intellectuals
fora, entitled “Common Vision for Common Neighborhood,” which were
separately convened in the capital of Lithuania from May 3 to 5. On May 5,
the ACNIS officials attended the Heads of State Summit held under the
auspices of President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania and Polish President Lech
Kaczynski.
Stiopa Safarian participated in the Non-Governmental Organizations’ Forum on
“Europe’s New Democracies and the Euro-Atlantic Agenda” where the conferees
examined the ex-socialist bloc’s and post-Soviet countries’ integration
process into Euro-Atlantic structures and the challenges they face to that
end. Against the backdrop of the conference, Safarian also held meetings
with Hilde Hardeman, the European Commission’s director general on external
relations and head of unit for relations with Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus;
Michael Emerson, senior research fellow at the Center for European Policy
Studies (EU); Andrei Illarionov, president of the Institute of Economic
Analysis and the Russian president’s former adviser on economic issues
(Russian Federation); Professor Oleksandr Potyekhin of the Diplomatic
Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine); Zeyno Baran, senior
fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Eurasian Policy (US); founder
and president Bruce Pitcairn Jackson of the Project on Transitional
Democracies (US); Wojciech Kononczuk, coordinator of the Stefan Batory
Foundation (Poland); director Cornelius Ochmann of the Bertelsmann
Foundation (Germany); president Jean-Dominique Giuliani of the Robert
Schuman Foundation (France); and several others.
Meanwhile, Karapet Kalenchian attended and addressed the Intellectuals Forum
held at the conference hall of the Presidential Palace of Lithuania. The
participants discussed the advancement of democracy in Europe’s east, the
formation of a European neighborhood domain, and the pacific regulation of
disputes. In the margins of the event, Kalenchian met with distinguished
post-Soviet scholars and academicians: Dean Leonidas Donskis of the Vytautas
Magnus University School of Political Science and Diplomacy (Lithuania);
director Jurij Afanasjev of the Russian State University of Human Science
(Russian Federation); journalist and political analyst Evgeny Kiselev
(Russian Federation); director Andrei Piontkovsky of the Center for
Strategic Studies (Russian Federation); writer Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine);
historian Igor Sarov (Moldova); executive director Igor Munteanu of the
Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (Moldova); opera singer
Mihail Muntean (Moldova); poet and former Belarus ambassador to the United
Nations Genady Buravkin (Belarus); journalist Vladimir Dorokhov of Deutsche
Welle (Belarus); director Irma Khvedeliani of the “Civic Dialogue and
Counsel” European Integration Forum (Georgia); and many others. The
resolution adopted by the delegates summarized the issues raised throughout
their active deliberations.
On May 5, the Armenian representatives attended the Heads of State Summit,
the official conclave of Vilnius Conference 2006, as observers. The meeting
brought together Presidents Valdas Adamkus, Lech Kaczynski, Georgi Parvanov
(Bulgaria), Arnold Rüütel (Estonia), Mikheil Saakashvili (Georgia), Vaira
Vike-Freiberga (Latvia), Vladimir Voronin (Moldova), Traian Basescu
(Romania), and Viktor Yushchenko (Ukraine); US Vice President Richard
Cheney; Secretary General Javier Solana of the Council of the European
Union; UK Minister of State for Europe Douglas Alexander; and others. The
open atmosphere of the convention afforded the Armenian delegates an
opportunity to hold informal meetings and conversations with prominent
individuals who shape European and Eurasian policy, to explore their vision
for the future of the Euro-Atlantic system, and to present Armenia’s course
in that connection.
Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
understanding of the new global environment. In 2006, the Center focuses
primarily on civic education, conflict resolution, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.
For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax
(37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected]; or visit
