EU KEEPS CLOSE WATCH ON SOUTHERN CAUCASUS

Xinhua General News Service
April 6, 2010 Tuesday 4:10 PM EST
China

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton Tuesday
welcomed the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey
while anther high-ranking official kicked off a visit to Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia.

"The European Union encourages Armenia and Turkey to remain committed
to the process of normalization and calls on both countries to ratify
and implement the bilateral protocols without preconditions and in
a reasonable timeframe," Ashton, high representative for foreign
affairs and security policy, said in a statement.

The EU welcomes the decision of the Armenian President to submit
both protocols to the parliament as well as the recent declaration
by the President of Turkey to remain committed to the normalization
of relations with Armenia, said the statement.

Ashton said the EU believes that the full normalization of bilateral
relations between Armenia and Turkey would be an important contribution
to security, stability and cooperation in the Southern Caucasus.

"The EU will continue to provide its political and technical support
to this process and stands ready to help implementing the steps agreed
between the two countries," the statement added.

Meanwhile, commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood
Policy (ENP) Stefan Fule started a three-day visit to Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia from April 6 to 9.

"Each and every of our partner countries is the master of its own
success in getting closer to the EU," stated Fule prior to the visit.

The EU is offering through the Eastern Partnership closer economic
integration, deeper political cooperation through the proposal to
engage in negotiations of Association Agreements with the partner
countries.

The visit is believed to provide one more opportunity to stress the
EU intention to take forward the broad agenda it has developed with
the three countries in the context of the Eastern Partnership, the
statement said.

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia each have an action plan under the
ENP, designed to help, inter alia, their closer trade and economic
integration with the EU, in particular through gradual regulatory
alignment.

The implementation of the action plans should also enable the countries
to progressively become ready to negotiate, implement and sustain a
deep and comprehensive free trade area with the EU.

The new EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative launched in May 2009
builds upon the ENP and aims at overall enhancing the EU relations
with the Eastern ENP countries, which has brought in particular a
perspective of new enhanced bilateral framework agreements.