“WE WILL NOT TAKE YOUR FOREIGN MINISTER WITH US”
Support A1+!“Don’t worry we won’t take your Foreign Minister with us,”European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Police, Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on February 6 during a joint press conference in Yerevan.
Ferrero-Waldner and Dimitrij Rupel, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, devoted part of their speeches to Armenia’s FM Vartan Oskanian and his activity.
Do the assessments suggest a diplomatic job proposal? In reply to a journalist’s question, Mr. Rupel said, “Generally, foreign ministers are wise, intellectual and charming.”
The EU delegation’s visit is aimed at opening full fledged European Commission Delegations (ECD) in Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Armenian FM underlined that the opening of the ECDs coincides with the presidential election in Armenia.
While speaking of EU’s significance, Minister Oskanian said, “The resolution of the Karabakh conflict and Armenia-Turkey relations are top priorities for the European Union.”
In this respect Rupel said, “The EU Troika is visiting Armenia as a very important place in South Caucasus to offer assistance and listen to the views of our Armenian friends. The EU has a policy for the whole South Caucasus; it is part of our European Neighborhood Policy. The main massage that we are trying to send is that our friends should be friends with each other. We are trying to do our best to contribute to the friendship. We have discussed some technical matters regarding the Action Plan. We have discussed political issues, as well. Certainly here the top priorities for the EU are human rights, strengthening the democratic structures and of course attention to the media.”
Turning to the forthcoming presidential elections in Armenia, Dimitrij said, “We think the presidential elections will be a proper opportunity for progress, although the past parliamentary elections were not bad either.”
The Slovenian Foreign Minister noted that the issues related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement and Armenian-Turkish relations were discussed during the meetings in Armenia. Noting that there are no diplomatic relations and the border remains closed, Rupel noted that the EU will try to assist in the improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations.
EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the “EU is hopeful that Armenia will hold a competitive and free presidential election. We are hopeful that the presidential election will be better than the parliamentary election, although the parliamentary election also complied with the democratic benchmarks and was evaluated positively by the international observers. Benita Ferrero-Waldner believes that the public administration bodies that will be shaped after the presidential elections will be based on the principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights.
