FOREIGN MINISTER OSKANIAN PARTICIPATES IN INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON EUROPE’S STRATEGIC RESPONSES

ARMINFO News Agency
September 23, 2006 Saturday

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian participated in the 10th Bertelsmann
Forum, held in Berlin, Germany, on September 22, 23, reports the
press service of the Armenian Foreign Minstry.

The one and a half day conference convened on Saturday afternoon with
opening remarks by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, French Prime
Minister Dominique de Villepin, EU Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. The audience of
100+ political leaders, which included former German Foreign Minister
Hans-Dietrich Genscher and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger,
heard perspectives on Europe’s Strategic Responses, as the conference
is entitled.

Following the opening session, Minister Oskanian participated in a
panel on The Balkans and the Black Sea – a Litmus Test for Europe.

The panel also included the presidents of Bulgaria, Romania and
Azerbaijan, and the Prime Minister of Montenegro.

Throughout the discussion, Oskanian affirmed that the region’s litmus
test for Europe would be an effective European Neighborhood Policy,
the functionality and integrity of the Black Sea region, and practical
approaches to conflicts.

During a lively discussion on Kosovo, Minister Oskanian cautioned
against denying peoples their right to self-determination, simply
out of political expediency. If the world were guided by a fear of
setting precedents, he said, half the countries in the world today
would not exist. But there has to be strict criteria, he said, and
the chief principle should be whether the state can claim the moral
authority to rule.

The Bertelsmann Foundation is sponsored by the Bertelsmann Group,
the world’s largest publishing company.