Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 10 2006

EU willing to build special relations with the South Caucasus
10.11.2006 12:23

The EU backs the OSCE Minsk Group mediation efforts, EU High
Commissioner for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana
told `Trend’ agency. `We cannot say that the EU is passive. EU has
done much. The region faces problems rooted in the conflicts. I want
to emphasize the importance of continuing the negotiations between
Armenia and Azerbaijan for reaching an agreement as soon as possible.
EU backs the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group. I hope that
November 14th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries
in Brussels will help achieve further progress,’ declared Javier
Solana.
As for Georgia, EU considers that settlement of its internal
conflicts is of vital importance for the whole region. `EU Special
Envoy for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby helps Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia to discuss the further political and economic reforms and
promote development of the region, making its contribution to the
peaceful settlement of conflicts and promoting further cooperation
between the countries of the region,’ EU High Commissioner reminded.
In response to the question about the importance the European Union
attaches to the cooperation with the countries of the South Caucasus,
Javier Solana noted that the fact that the three South Caucasian
countries are EU neighbors and are included in the European
Neighborhood Policy speaks about EU’s wish to build special relations
with the region.