EASTERN PARTNERSHIP A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO DEEPEN COOPERATION WITH EU MEMBER STATES
Anna Nazaryan

"Radiolur"
08.05.2009 16:16
Prague

President Serzh Sargsyan today met with the Secretary General of
the Council of the European Union, Javier Solana and the President
of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso. Regional issues
were discussed. As it is known, Serzh Sargsyan had meetings with
his Azerbaijani and Turkish counterparts, after which Turkish media
disseminated false comments.

Armenian reporters tried to find out the truth Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian.

"During the meeting Serzh Sargsyan and Abdullah Gul agreed to honor
the previous agreements and normalize the Armenian-Turkish relations
without preconditions and within a reasonable time frame. The
Presidents of Armenia and Turkey instructed the Foreign Ministers
to continue the meetings to determine the future steps," the Foreign
Minister said. According to Edward Nalbandian, the fabricated comments
of the Turkish media that a meeting of the Presidents of Armenia,
turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia are expected to meet, do not correspond
to reality.

As for the meeting of Presidents Sargsyan and Aliyev, the negotiations
proceeded on the basis of the Madrid Proposals. "The OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairs will visit he region before the economic summit in Saint
Petersburg in June to prepare another meeting between the Presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan," the Foreign Minister said.

Speaking about the Eastern Partnership, Minister Nalbandian said
it would provide an opportunity to the partner countries to deepen
the cooperation with the European Union. The Presidents of the
six countries included in the program will meet once a year to
discuss the programs and work out the steps. "The principle is as
follows. The format of cooperation with every country will shaped for
that particular country, taking into consideration to what extent the
country is ready to undertake steps towards deepening of relations
with the European Union," the Foreign Minister of Armenia stated.

According to Edward Nalbandian, we should try to get actively involved
in the Eastern Partnership Program in order to get closer to Europe
and develop cooperation,"