EU IS INTERESTED IN STABLE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ALL THREE CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER DECLARES

Noyan Tapan
Feb 20 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier’s visit to Armenia is important in the respect of not
only bilateral but also Armenia-EU relations. Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian said this at the February 20 press
conference. Reminding that currently Germany has assumed EU
chairmanship he stated that he discussed Armenia’s Actions Plan
within the framework of European New Neighborhood Policy with his
German counterpart. In V. Oskanian’s words, he informed Frank-Walter
Steinmeier about the current stage of Nagorno Karabakh settlement
and Armenian side’s position on prospects of settlement.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in his turn, said that Germany has close
relations with Armenia, which are becoming traditional. In his words,
Germany attaches importance to EU New Neighborhood program, in which
Armenia has been also involved. He said that after Bulgaria’s and
Romania’s membership the South Caucasian countries have become EU’s
immediate neighbors and European countries are interested in making
more investments in this region.

Answering the question, what interests Germany in Armenia, Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said that his country is interested in stable economic and
political development in the region bordering upon EU. "This regards
the three countries, irrespective of the fact what raw materials each
of them has or for what military alliance it strives," he emphasized.

Steinmeier also said that EU’s relations with these three countries
bear the influence of the conflicts existing in the region. He
expressed the hope that thanks to the efforts of OSCE Minsk Group
Co-chairs, the negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh settlement will yield
positive results and it will be possible to achieve final settlement
of conflict on the basis of the document created. It was mentioned
that according to the estimations of both Armenian and Azerbaijani
sides, some progress has been registered in this direction and the
proposed document is a good basis for continuing the negotiations.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress