SARKISIAN, SAAKASHVILI CALL FOR GEORGIAN-ARMENIAN ‘INTEGRATION’

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01.03.2010

The presidents of Armenia and Georgia pledged to promote economic
"integration" between their nations and reviewed broader bilateral
ties during weekend talks held in the Georgian city of Batumi.

Sarkisian traveled to the Black Sea port city on what his office called
a "private visit" ahead of the reopening on Monday of Georgia’s main
border crossing with Russia that had served as one of Armenia’s few
commercial conduits to the outside world.

The Upper Lars crossing running through a narrow pass in the Caucasus
Mountains was controversially closed by Moscow in June 2006, hitting
hard Armenian exporters of agricultural produce and other goods.

Yerevan has since repeatedly urged the Russians to reopen it.

The Georgian and Russian governments announced in late December that
they will allow renewed commercial and passenger traffic through
the mountain pass from March 1. The agreement was reportedly reached
under Swiss and Armenian mediation.

Reuters news agency reported that checkpoints both sides of Upper
Lars were opened from early in the morning on Monday, but no vehicles
had passed the border by midday Georgian time. Armenian trading
companies had been particularly reliant on the crossing in summer
and autumn months.

According to the Armenian presidential press office, Sarkisian and
Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili discussed in Batumi "efforts
to open the Upper Lars checkpoint" along with other economic issues
of mutual interest.

Saakashvili described the Georgian-Armenian relationship as "cloudless"
as he greeted his Armenian counterpart on Saturday. The two men spent
the weekend holding talks and taking a stroll in a city that has been
a popular destination of Armenian vacationers in recent years.

"We agreed that the integration of our countries’ economies should
further intensify," Saakashvili told journalists Sunday. "We need
more communication and more work to bring our peoples together,
though they already are close to each other. Such meetings will take
place much more frequently and this will benefit everyone."

"We are small countries and we need each other very much. We are
dependent upon each other and we should use this circumstance for
good," he added in televised remarks.

"We should work together more closely and think very seriously about
integration processes," agreed Sarkisian. "I am confident that this
year will see a turning point in our relations, even if those relations
have always been very good and are very good now too."

Neither leader announced any concrete agreements reached during their
talks. Saakashvili spoke instead of his admiration for Sarkisian.

"I want to say that the Armenian president is a brave man who inspires
me in a lot of ways," he said. "I am delighted with how the country
is achieving success."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress