EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION
for Justice and Democracy

Avenue de la Renaissance 10
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel/ Fax: +32 2 732 70 27/26
Website :Eafjd

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PRESS RELEASE

Friday, 6 June 2008 – please note the delayed delivery due to some
technical issues

Contact : Varténie ECHO

Tel. / Fax. : +32 (0) 2 732 70 27

EUROPE HALF-OPEN TO CAUCASUS, MOLDOVA AND UKRAINE

– 27+6 EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly to be launched as of mid 2009

– Free trade and visa free propositions by a Polish-Swedish initiative

– Reluctance from the European Commission

Brussels, 6 May – Two recent events, one after the other, encourage a
new stage in the relations between the European Union and its eastern
neighbours, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and,
to a lower extent, Belarus.

On May 26, during a meeting of the Council of the European Union,
the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Sikorski, announced a joint
initiative between Poland and Sweden for an "ideological" improvement
of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). M. Sikorski then stated
that "in the East, we have European neighbours whereas in the South,
we just have neighbours of Europe". The joint initiative was welcomed
by many Member States, especially among the newcomers. The Czech
Republic which will chair the EU after France said it is pro.

A working document from the Council, that remained confidential, was
unveiled on the 5th of June, during one of the sessions during the
conference held in the European Parliament about this ENP-East. The
document records the new prerogatives that would bring this "deepened
bilateral cooperation", of which the most striking measures are the
progressive establishment of visa free and free trade area as well as
the gradual alignment with the "EU legislation, standards and norms".

The conference which gathered Members of the European Parliament and
MPs from the involved countries, enshrined the idea of a reinforced
cooperation at a parliamentary level. The works of the conference
led to a consensual final statement, which underscores that "the
Enlargement Policy and the ENP should be used in an interrelated
and flexible way, in order to respect the expectations of the East
European Neighbours" and that the progress of these countries "should
serve as a basis for the closer integration with the EU, including
the possibility of EU membership perspective".

The statement calls to the settlement of a EURONEST Parliamentary
Assembly, on the model of already existing EUROMED and EUROLAT,
respectively for Mediterranean countries and Latin American
countries. This assembly should group 60 MEPs and 10 MP for each of
the 6 involved countries. According to Mr Siwiec, vice president of
the European Parliament, EURONEST could be enacted at the beginning
of the next legislature term (June 2009).

"We commend this closer integration of Armenia and other involved
states to the European structures" stated Laurent Leylekian, the
executive director of the European Armenian Federation. "The accession
prospect remains distant, differentiated according to the progresses of
the States but it has never been affirmed so explicitly beforehand. It
is a plus for Europe which is well-perceived in the region but which
is reputed to ask much and to offer few" he continued.

Yet, the initiative gave rise to the reluctance of the European
Commission.

Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, the Commissioner for External Relations expressed
her preference for the classical approach of both Southern and Eastern
ENP, with an individualized treatment country by country, saying that
she sees "no added value" to the new approach.

Though supported by some MEPs, the Commissi on’s position led to
criticism by some others. Mrs Isler-Beguin, co-chairperson of the
Interparliamentary delegation with the South Caucasus stated that
she cannot imagine "how those countries could integrate more and more
and to comply with the criteria by the EU without a clear accession
prospect".

"The initiative is still fruitful: this meeting was for instance
the first one in which Georgia and Azerbaijan overcame the frozen
conflicts issue to address European issues" concluded Leylekian.

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