PETER SEMNEBY: EU IS INTERESTED IN RAPID SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

Noyan Tapan
Jun 15 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, NOYAN TAPAN. "Armenia and Azerbaijan are very
important partners for the European Union (EU), and we are disappointed
that the Saint Petersburg meeting of the presidents of these two
countries ended without result." The EU Special Representative on
the South Caucasus Peter Semneby stated this at the June 15 press
conference.

At the same time, he expressed a hope that the sides will work
out a basis for the Karabakh conflict settlement. According to
P. Semneby, any delay in the conflict settlement will lead to dangerous
developments, growing economic risks in the region, etc. He underlined
that the EU is interested in rapid settlement of the conflict and
completely supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at
solving this problem. "The third side may provide considerable
assistance to this problem’s solution," the EU representative said.

In connection with working out trust measures in this settlement,
P. Semneby said that the EU is seeking such measures in the context
of conflict settlement in the territory of Georgia. In his words,
some of them may have relation to the Karabakh conflict as well.

As for the participation of Nagorno Karabakh in negotiations, the EU
representative said that this issue is not on the agenda today. "When
the solution to this problem is found I think the opinion of Nagorno
Karabakh residents will be taken into consideration," P. Semneby said.