OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE TO VISIT SOUTH CAUCASUS
armradio.am
21.02.2008 15:07
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva,
will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan on 25-28 February.
He will meet the three countries’ presidents, foreign ministers and
parliamentary speakers as well as with representatives of opposition
parties to discuss OSCE-related topics, bilateral and international
issues.
Elections also will be discussed, as all three South Caucasus countries
will have elections this year. The OSCE monitored the 19 February
presidential elections in Armenia Georgia will hold parliamentary
elections in May and voters in Azerbaijan elect a new president
in October.
The Chairman-in-Office seeks to promote progress in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and in the Georgian-Ossetian
conflict resolution. The OSCE has a mandate to support the sides in
their search for the resolution of these conflicts.
Minister Kanerva will use the trip to emphasize the importance of
stability and democratic reforms and the role of the OSCE in supporting
such development in the countries.
The so-called protracted conflicts erupted in the early 1990s as the
Soviet Union dissolved.