EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO VISIT YEREVAN
TREND News Agency
March 3 2008
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku, 3 March /Trend News corr K. Ramazanova, E. Huseynov/
The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby
will visit Armenia due to the on-going situation in the country which
occurred after the presidential elections, Semneby told Trend News
on 3 March.
"The visit will began today because of the announcement of an emergency
situation in Yerevan," Semneby said in a telephone conversation from
Brussels. He did not go into details about his visit.
On the morning of 2 March, the President Robert Kocheryan declared
an emergency situation in Armenia. This has been caused by continuous
demonstrations by the supporters of the presidential candidate Levon
Ter-Petrosian, who accuses the authorities of gerrymandering during
the elections.
On 1 March, the dispersal of demonstration by the police resulted in
confrontation. According to the Armenian Health Ministry, the number
of victims of the riots which took place in Yerevan on 1 March totalled
131, and eight of them have died from gunshot wounds.
On 2 March, the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and
Security Policy Javier Solana said EU countries are concerned about
the emergency situation in Yerevan. He called on all sides to show
restraint in order to normalize the situation. "Talks with the
opposition should be resumed, for that is the only way forward,"
he said.
On 1 March Semneby said that the EU is concerned about the
confrontation involving the part of the opposition which protests
against the results of the elections. "We are concerned about the
tensions. In such a situation there is always the threat of one wrong
step followed by escalation," Semneby said.
According to the EU Representative, the EU’s position is that
differences should become the subject of serious discussions, and
the issues should be solved through dialogue.
"Responsibility and prevention of further escalation is important
for both sides in this situation," he said.