PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MEETS WITH AMBASSADORS

armradio.am
22.05.2008 11:17

President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting with the Heads of Mission of
the EU member states accredited in Yerevan, and the representative
of the delegation of the European Commission, President’s Press
Office reported.

President Sargsyan said that these meetings are a proper format for
discussing issues on the Armenia-European Union agenda.

According to the President of Armenia, further deepening of the
relations with the EU will undeniably expedite Armenia’s democratic
as well as economic development.

Viewing the implementation of the Action Plan in the framework of the
European Neighborhood Policy as a priority for Armenia, the President
stressed that the Plan is in full agreement with the program of the
Government of Armenia and the logic of the planned large-scale reforms.

Serzh Sargsyan also mentioned that experience of the European
Commission is very important for Armenia. The President of Armenia
said that he is satisfied with the results of the first year of the
Plan’s implementation as well as with the assessment presented at
the EC’s Progress Report. He noted that the assessment is overall
balanced and fair.

Serzh Sargsyan also said that Armenia is striving to join the EU’s
General System of Preferences (GSP) trade regime, to receive from
the EU the status of the country with market economy, and to sign
a free trade agreement with the European Union. In this regard,
the priority directions in the coming years will be the improvement
of the investment climate in the country, improvement of business
environment, and fundamental changes in the customs administration.

Speaking about political developments, Serzh Sargsyan said that
regardless of the post-election developments, the implementation of
democratic reforms remains a necessity, and that we will continue to
work in that direction.

Mr. Sargsyan said that right after the presidential elections he
offered cooperation to all political forces and received a positive
response from the majority of them, which made possible the creation
of the political coalition. He mentioned with pain the impossibility
of preventing the events of March 1. Regardless of the fact that one
of the candidates was speaking about the events months before they
actually took place, President Sargsyan stressed that the authorities
are responsible for all the processes going on in the country and that
they see the elimination of their consequences in the unequivocal
implementation of the recommendations of the corresponding PACE
resolution. In addition, they entirely correspond to the principles
laid out in the President’s pre-election platform and to the principles
of cooperation of the Political Coalition. "The recommendations of the
working group have been approved by the members of the Coalition, and
we are determined to fully implement them," the President underscored.

President Sargsyan spoke also about the simplifying the procedures
for obtaining the entry visas to the EU member states and the EU
regional center for cultural issues to be established in Yerevan.

The President of Armenia also presented his views on the
Nagorno Karabakh peace process, reiterating that official Yerevan
advocates the peaceful resolution of the conflict on the basis of
comprises. Meanwhile, the opposite side very often comes up with
belligerent statements. However, the President thinks that there is
still hope for a peaceful resolution – as long as the negotiations
are continued on the basis of fundamental principles.

Regarding the Armenian-Turkish relations the President of Armenia
said that our country is ready to establish normal relations with
Turkey without preconditions and to discuss all contentious issues
on the basis of intergovernmental relations and negotiations.

On behalf of the diplomats the Ambassador of France, Serzh Smessov
expressed satisfaction that the tradition of conducting these meetings
continues and noted that they are very useful for them.

The Ambassadors welcomed the determination of the Armenian authorities
to fully implement all recommendations of the PACE resolution.

During the meeting the President of Armenia also provided
clarifications on other issues raised by the diplomats.