IN OPINION OF RA DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, NO DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT PUBLIC CONSENT

Noyan Tapan
Dec 05 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. "The process of joining the European
Union in many respects depends on the public and demands much efforts
from it."

Ambassador of Poland to Armenia Tomasz Knothe declared this at the
December 5 press conference dedicated to the process of Armenia’s
integration to European structures and Poland’s experience in the issue
of joining the European Union. He said that almost all political forces
of Poland and the prevailing majority of the country’s public held
the same opinion in the issue of Poland’s membership to EU and this
factor became one of the most important ones in the process of Poland’s
joining EU. In the Ambassador’s words, the process of joining EU is not
limited to negotiations between the authorities of this or that country
and Brussels: the whole public is involved into the process. "The
issue is not solved at the level of the authorities, nothing will
be achieved without the involvement of the whole public," T.Knothe
said. In this respect he drew a special attention to the process of
bringing a legislation of this or that country in correspondence with
the European one. Another participant of the press conference, RA
Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Baibourtian agreed to this opinion. "No
development of the European integration process is possible without
the public consent." The Deputy Minister said that both Armenia’s
geographical position on the crossroad on the West and the East and
its centuries-old cooperation with both Europe and Asia left a lasting
impression on the consciousness of the Armenian people. Besides,
as A.Baibourtian estimated, strong influence of European values on
the Armenian people is explained with presence of Armenian colonies
in different European countries. He said that participation in the
New European Neighborhood Policy should not be considered as a way to
the European Union: participation in this program gives no guarantees
for joining EU. Meanwhile, in his words, each country cooperates with
EU within the framework of the New European Neighborhood program and
passes a path of reforms in this context.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress