Friday, 4 May 2007
RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan received Head of the EC Delegation to Armenia and Georgia, Ambassador Peer Ecklund who is in Armenia to attend the celebrations of Europe's Day this May 9.
First, the Prime Minister congratulated Mr. Ecklund on the 50th anniversary of the European Union (formerly the European Community) and the Day of Europe, then he expressed hope that the successful integration of the European countries might promote cooperation between States and strengthen peace and stability in other regions as well, including the Southern Caucasus.
In noting that the realization of the EU-Armenia Program of Actions, adopted under the European Neighborhood Policy, would help establish closer ties between our country and the European Union, Mr. Sargsyan emphasized the importance of this visit of the Delegation, which provided an extra opportunity for the discussion of cooperation-targeted action. He said that the Armenian authorities focused on the successful implementation of the Program and that certain amount of work had already been done in this direction in terms of legislative harmonization with the European standards, in particular. The Prime Minister further stated that the GoA was going to ratify the 2007 action Plan in the near future. Serzh Sargsyan said to be hopeful that the above-said processes would be supported by Mr. Raul de Luzenberger, appointed as the authorized representative of EC Delegation to Armenia.
The parties have also touched upon regional cooperation-related issues. Emphasizing the instrumental role played by the European Union in the stimulation of cooperation between the countries of Southern Caucasus, the head of the Armenian government noted that regional cooperation was possible only if all countries of our region were involved therein. He stressed once again that Turkey should de-block its borders with Armenia with the view of establishing good-neighborly relationship between the neighboring States without any preconditions in an effort to improve the ways of communication and stimulate economic development.
The head of the EC Delegation agreed with the Prime Minister and said that additional efforts had to be made by all of the sides concerned towards the establishment of political dialogue and mutual understanding.
During the conversation, Mr. Ecklund asked questions concerning the pre-election situation in Armenia.
