Assa Irada, Azerbaijan
July 8 2004
EU Commissioner: South Caucasus’s Integration into EU Possible after
Settlement of Karabakh Conflict
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was a focus of a Wednesday meeting of
the Milli Majlis (parliament) Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov with the
European Union (EU) commissioner on expansion Yanez Potocnik, who
arrived in Baku on Tuesday evening.
Alasgarov said that he backed the resolution of the conflict based on
the principles of territorial integrity of countries and the
inviolability of their borders.
Touching upon international organizations’ suggestions that
Azerbaijan reach common agreement on the settlement of the conflict,
Alasgarov expressed his surprise at this.
`How can Azerbaijan reach common agreement with Armenia, which is an
aggressor and doesn’t intend to withdraw from the occupied lands of
Azerbaijan?’ he stressed.
Speaker also condemned the visits by some international diplomats to
Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia without the prior permission from Baku.
Potocnik, in turn, noted that the successful integration of the South
Caucasus region into the European Union was possible only after the
peaceful solution of the Karabakh conflict. He underlined that the EU
was ready to carry out rehabilitation operations in Nagorno-Karabakh
after the resolution of the conflict.
The EU commissioner stressed that the EU special envoy on South
Caucasus Heikki Talvitie was ready to assist the OSCE Minsk Group in
settling the conflict.
Touching upon cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan, Potocnik
said that the report on Azerbaijan prepared at the first stage of the
`European Neighborhood Policy’ program is scheduled to be delivered
in spring of 2005. He noted that it was necessary to pay more
attention to eradication of poverty and corruption and the
development of democracy, along with reforms in various areas of
economy. Potocnik said that the EU would render financial assistance
to Azerbaijan in this respect.
Receiving Potocnik the same day, Prime Minister Artur Rasizada said
that Azerbaijan had fulfilled all commitments for the country’s
admission to the EU soon. Speaking about economic reforms, Rasizada
stressed that Azerbaijan was the only country in the South Caucasus
region to fulfill the commitments on repayment of the EU-allocated
loans.