Public Television of Armenia
Oct 7 2005
Armenian, Latvian leaders discuss bilateral cooperation
[Presenter] Following an official welcoming ceremony for the
high-ranking guest, the Armenian and Latvian presidents, Robert
Kocharyan and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, held a face-to-face meeting at
the Armenian president’s residency this morning.
The Latvian president said that the political dialogue between the
two countries was at the highest level. After this the Armenian and
Latvian talks continued with the participation of the delegations.
The sides discussed the important directions of economic cooperation
and the opportunities for intensifying them. The presidents made a
joint statement and signed several agreements on the stimulation of
mutual investment and its protection as well as the cooperation in
the spheres of culture and the customs.
[Kocharyan] We held face-to-face and expanded meetings. We discussed
economic and political issues. I informed the Latvian president of
the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement and our approaches to the
developments in the region , including the process of integration
into the European Union. Latvia’s entrance to the EU is very
interesting for us. We are confident that Latvia will help us within
the framework of the New Neighbourhood Policy.
We discussed specific directions of Latvia’s assistance and will
probably reach an agreements on this matter late this year. I
expressed my satisfaction with the recent level of the ongoing
political dialogue between our countries. The interparliamentary
relations, meetings and mutual understanding between the two
countries are very high. I am pleased with today’s meeting and give
the floor to my Latvian counterpart.
[Vaira Vike-Freiberga, speaking in English with Armenian voice-over]
The documents, which we have signed, will allow us to expand
cooperation in several important spheres. We reached an agreement at
the meeting that several spheres of mutual interest should be chosen
in order we focus on them in our cooperation. Armenia and Latvia
should join their efforts and expand relations. We welcome
cooperation with this region within the framework of the EU
programme.
If it is impossible to hold talks with all the countries of the
region simultaneously, the EU has to hold talks with the countries
separately in order to avoid creating obstacles to the negotiations
[between the EU and the South Caucasus countries].
It is obvious that along with the regional interests, there are
disagreements in the region. The experience of the Baltic region
shows that the coincidence of interests of the neighbouring countries
can be effective for the whole region. [Video showed the meeting]