VARDAN OSKANIAN: "TODAY, ARMENIA IN NEED OF EUROPE MORE THAN EVER FOR DEEPENING DEMOCRACY"

Noyan Tapan
March 17, 2008

BRUSSELS, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN. On March 15-16 Vardan Oskanian, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, took part
in the "Brussels Forum – 2008" conference launched in the capital
of Belgium.

Within the frameworks of the conference Vardan Oskanian and
Temuri Yakobashvili, the State Minister for Reintegration of
Georgia, took part in the "Does the path to Europe extend to the
Caucasus?" discussion as the main speakers.

In his speech Vardan Oskanian touched upon the elections held in
Armenia and the events, which followed them, which he qualified not
as a regress from democracy but a temporary deviation. Analyzing the
situation created after the elections, the Minister clarified that
it is a consequence of a lack of confidence among society towards
political and social institutes. Speaking about the Armenia-Europe
relations and their prospects, the Minister suggested that education
and mass media should be the pivotal spheres of that cooperation in
the near future.

At the end of his speech, Vardan Oskanian declared that today Armenia
is in need of Europe more than ever in order to deepen the democracy
for working together.

Vardan Oskanian also met with Javier Solana, the European Union
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The
post-election situation in Armenia and the ways for quickly coming
out of the created situation were discussed during the meeting.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress