PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA HOSTS EU TROIKA DELEGATION

armradio.am
21.07.2009 10:41

President Serzh Sargsyan received a delegation of the EU Troika led
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt, which has
arrived to Armenia in the framework of its regional visit to the
South Caucasus, President’s Press Office reported.

Welcoming the Troika’s visit to Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan said,
"The fact that you’re starting your chairmanship with the visit to
the South Caucasus speaks of your attitude toward the region and
our country. We believe it is only logical since Sweden was at the
beginnings of the EU Eastern Partnership." Serzh Sargsyan noted
that Armenia has been attaching great importance to her relations
with the European Union since day one of her independence and today
these relations are a significant component of Armenia’s foreign
policy. Expressing confidence that during the Swedish chairmanship
the foundations of the Eastern Partnership would become stronger,
the President of Armenia said that the program not only provides
opportunities to deepen relations with the European Union but also
to expand cooperation among the six participants.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden said that as the President
of Armenia has correctly mentioned, their first visit is indeed to the
South Caucasus and stressed that it testifies to the importance which
they attach to the regio n, its problems, and the Eastern Partnership.

The parties discussed in detail regional issues and particularly
those pertaining to the settlement of the NK conflict.

Carl Bildt once again stressed the importance which the EU attaches
to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the framework
of the OSCE Minsk Group, and expressed EU’s support for the efforts
undertaken by the Co-Chairs.

President Serzh Sargsyan noted that three day ago he discussed the
issue with the President of Azerbaijan. According to the President,
this time the discussions were a little different since the Minsk
Group Co-Chairs have already made public the principles which lie
at the core of the negotiations. Serzh Sargsyan considers it to be
rather helpful since according to the President, "unfortunately, the
parties not always present to the public the exact issues discussed
during the negotiations.

After the Moscow meeting, the agenda and the essence of the
negotiations have been presented in the neighboring country in a
different light.

Notwithstanding, I can tell you that despite the difficulties there
is some progress. As you know, right now we are discussing the main
principles separate from the Madrid principles. After that we will
discuss the remaining principles, and later, based on all this,
we will draft the main agreement. I believe everybody knows by now
that the main issue is the status of Nagorno Karabakh, which must be
decided through free will and the adopted decision must be legally
binding. After we have put together this issue in a proper and
unequivocal way, I think the negotiations will go on much smoother."

The parties discussed also the EU-Armenia agenda, speaking
in particular about the possibility of signing the association
agreement, prospects of economic cooperation, issues related to the
extended free trade agreement, as well as the democratic reforms in
our country. They also discussed the possibilities of easing EU visa
regime with Armenia. The President of Armenia stressed that this is
an important issue for our country because a considerable part of
the Armenian people lives outside Armenia.