EU ENVOY SAYS JUNE TALKS NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR GARABAGH
AssA-Irada
May 25 2009
Azerbaijan
A European Union official has voiced hope that talks between the
Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, due on the sidelines of a CIS
summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg early in June, would
help to move forward the nearly two-decade-long conflict over Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh. The EU supports the work now being conducted by
the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The EU special representative shares the hope of the mediators that
the forthcoming Saint Petersburg meeting between the presidents will
be a new opportunity for the sides to bring their positions closer,
says the EU envoy for the South Caucasus Peter Semnebys statement on
the outcomes of his visit to Azerbaijan on May 19-20. According to the
statement, released by the European Commissions local representation,
as part of his regular consultations with the Azerbaijani authorities,
the EU representative met during his visit with President Ilham Aliyev
and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. Among the issues discussed
was the normalization process in Turkish-Armenian relations and
its implications for Azerbaijan. Semneby outlined the EU’s vision
of the South Caucasus, where the opening of all borders would
enhance regional security and permit the region to develop its
full economic potential. Further, Semneby welcomed the signing by
Azerbaijan of the Prague Southern Corridor Summit Declaration. In
particular, the declaration will create opportunities to move forward
the energy cooperation between the European Union and its Eastern
neighbors. Azerbaijan is playing a fundamental role in the EU’s energy
relations, not least for its efforts to diversify energy sources and
transport routes, the statement said. The Southern Corridor project
envisions building three pipelines to transport Caspian, Central Asian
and Iraqi gas to Europe Nabucco, White Stream and Interconnector. Also,
the EU official discussed with the Azerbaijani authorities the Eastern
Partnership program, signed by the EU and six countries of its Eastern
European Neighborhood on May 7 in Prague. He indicated that the Eastern
Partnership, which aims to boost cooperation between the 27-member bloc
and its ex-Soviet partners, will create opportunities for a stronger
bilateral relationship between the EU and with the participating
countries, in particular through the planned negotiation of association
agreements. It will also create opportunities for developing regional
cooperation through regional platforms for governance issues, economic
cooperation, energy issues, and people-to-people contacts.