MINISTER OSKANIAN IN BRUSSELS FOR COOPERATION COUNCIL MEETING

Lragir, Armenia
Nov 14 2006

Minister Oskanian is in Brussels to participate in the 7th session of
the Armenia-EU Cooperation Council. Together with the foreign ministers
of Georgia and Azerbaijan, Minister Oskanian met with the EU leadership
– the Foreign Minister of Finland, which holds the EU Presidency, the
Secretary of State of Germany which will hold the Presidency in the
first half of 2007 as well as EU High Representative, Javier Solana,
and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

During the first day’s dinner meeting, the participants discussed
developments in the region, including Caucasus states’ relations
with neighbors, and also prospects for regional cooperation. Regional
conflicts, especially Nagorno Karabakh, were the focus of much of the
discussion, particularly in light of the upcoming meeting between the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The dinner meeting was
followed by a press conference, during which Minister Oskanian thanked
the EU for its persistence in concluding the Action Plan process.

He also noted that "this year’s meeting of the Cooperation Council
will be particularly memorable because it represents the beginning
of a new chapter – for each of us individually, for our relations
with the EU, and for the EU itself."

The meeting was followed by a Press Conference. On November 14,
during the formal Council meeting the European Neighborhood Policy
Action Plan will be adopted.