EU envoy: Armenia-EU action plan and 2007 elections are connected directly

Regnum, Russia
July 24, 2006

Armenia-EU action plan within framework of the European New
Neighborhood Policy would be signed in the near future, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan stated on July 24 during joint press
conference with EU Envoy in Southern Caucasus Peter Semneby.

He is quoted by a REGNUM correspondent as saying that detailed
information concerning date of signing the document would be received
in the near future. It is supposed the EU top-level delegation would
visit the region in order to sign the document. "The Armenian side is
about to sign the document; we have no serious problems; there are
several small ones, which will be settled within next week," Vardan
Oskanyan stressed, adding that the Azerbaijani side had problems
concerning Cyprus; however, they were settled. "We hope the document
will be signed by all the three South Caucasian countries in the near
future," the Armenian foreign minister stressed.

In his turn, Peter Semneby stressed that there was direct connection
between the Armenia-EU action plan and forthcoming 2007 parliamentary
elections in Armenia. The program envisages steps, which will
contribute to conducting parliamentary elections in correspondence
with international norms. "I hope the Armenian parliamentary elections
will be fair and transparent," the envoy pointed out reminding of
responsibilities Armenia had assumed concerning conducting transparent
elections. According to Mr. Semneby, the EU is going to watch closely
the forthcoming elections. "We will consider the elections’ outcomes,
based on observations and conclusions of international observers,"
the EU representative resumed.