Wednesday, 31 October 2007
RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan received newly appointed head of the OSCE Yerevan office Ambassador Sergey Kapinos.
Congratulating Mr. Kapinos on his appointment, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that RA government
's fruitful cooperation with the OSCE Yerevan office would be continued during his term in office and stressed his government's readiness to develop the interaction.The head of the OSCE Armenia Office said that his task was to continue the deeply rooted and traditionally close cooperation with Armenia
's public institutions and non- governmental organizations and, upon completion of the ongoing programs as of March 2008, to develop new programs based on an active dialogue and interested discussions with these entities. According to Mr. Kapinos, there are several priority areas of cooperation, inclusive of environmental protection and public welfare programs, support to police system reforms, marz development programs, human rights protection, as well as assistance with the formation of a quick-response system and so on.Mr. Kapinos has assured that in 2008 it would be possible to develop and carry out programs similar to "Melange" rocket fuel processing project as implemented by the OSCE Yerevan office in Armenia and highly assessed by member countries.
The head of the OSCE Armenia Office emphasized the efforts towards the realization of regional programs by focusing firstly on the implementation of mutually beneficial projects in such areas as water usage, mining industry and environmental protection, susceptible to build up confidence in the region and lay the basis for conflict resolution. Serzh Sargsyan stressed that Armenia has always advocated this approach and is reiterating its willingness to start cooperating towards the implementation of regional programs to mutual advantage.
With reference to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Serzh Sargsyan reaffirmed Armenia
's position in that the talks in the frame of the OSCE Minsk group constituted the most effective format for conflict resolution. The Prime Minister further stated that Armenia supported the steps aimed at creating and strengthening tools for building confidence between the conflicting sides, as he was confident that this would promote the peace process.At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister wished Ambassador Kapinos successful completion of his mission as head of the OSCE Yerevan office.
