RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION SHOULD NOT BE DECIDED BASED ONLY ON POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY – OSKANYAN
Regnum, Russia –
Sept 24 2006
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan attended
Sep 22-23 the 10th Bertelsman Forum in Berlin. He participated in
discussions on the Balkans and the Black Sea at which presidents
of Bulgaria, Romania, and Azerbaijan were also present, as well as
the prime minister of Montenegro. The Armenian FM confirmed during
a discussion that successful EU policy of the new neighborhood,
effective approach to conflict resolution and integrity of the Black
Sea region are a "regional litmus test" for Europe.
Oskanyan warned that one cannot deprive peoples of the right to
self-determination based only on political expediency. "If the world
was guided by the fear of creating new precedents, a half of the world
countries would have never come to exist. At the same time, we need
clear criteria, of which the main principle would be to define if
the country has the moral authority to exist," Vardan Oskanyan stated.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister of France Dominique de
Villepin, President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, and
Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt addressed the guests at the
Forum’s opening. The forum was attended by more than 100 politicians,
including German former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and ex
US State Secretary Henry Kissinger. The forum was designed to discuss
"Europe’s strategic responses."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
