Armenian premier unhappy with Azerbaijani president’s "belligerent"
rhetoric
Arminfo
15 Jun 07
Yerevan, 15 June: The 12 May parliamentary election in Armenia was
mostly free and fair, the special representative of the EU in the South
Caucasus, Peter Semneby, said during his meeting with [Armenian] Prime
Minister Serzh Sargsyan today.
The Armenian government’s press service reported that Semneby
congratulated Sargsyan on the successful election. Semneby said that in
comparison with the previous elections in Armenia, progress is
apparent. He expressed the hope that this positive trend will continue
in the 2008 presidential election. "The European Union is watching
election processes in Armenia with a great interest. Their results are
quite important from the point of view that Armenia was the first
country in the region where elections were held after the Armenia-EU
partnership programme was adopted," Semneby said.
[Passage omitted: Semneby congratulated Sargsyan on the victory of his
party]
Thanking him for his assessment of the election results, Sargsyan
assured Semneby that positive trends will not only be maintained but
will develop further ahead of the forthcoming presidential election,
and that more efforts will be made for democratic processes on the
whole. He voiced his assurance on behalf of the president, too.
Sargsyan and Semneby discussed the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
settlement as well. Semneby detailed Sargsyan about his discussion with
the Armenian foreign minister, saying that the EU continues to show
growing interest in the settlement of the conflict not only because
Armenia and Azerbaijan are important partners of the EU, but also to
establish an atmosphere of trust and cooperation. Sargsyan said with
regret that in contrast to the belligerent rhetoric of the Azerbaijani
president and the increase in Azerbaijan’s military budget every year,
Armenia maintains its position on the peaceful settlement of the
conflict. "If Azerbaijan is really interested in a compromise and
peaceful settlement of the conflict, why does not it make relevant
public statements, but acts in the opposite way, thinking it can use
force to sign a document quickly and in its favour? This kind of
approach leads nowhere," Sargsyan said. He added that it would be hard
to imagine how the Azerbaijani president is going to explain the
essence of his statements to his nation if a compromise document is
signed.
Semneby, who shared Sargsyan’s concerns, tried to explain it by the
methods that the Azerbaijani media use in their work, adding that the
Azerbaijani president has not been making such statements in the recent
period. He emphasized the importance of establishing an atmosphere of
trust again and presented the EU’s approaches to the peaceful
settlement of the conflict. For his part, Sargsyan stated Armenia’s
willingness to make a compromise, saying that a compromise does not
mean a one-sided concession.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
