Thursday, 28 February 2008
RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan received a delegation led by EU Special Representative in South Caucasus Peter Szemneby. The delegation comprised Head of EC Mission in Armenia Raul Lutzenberger, representative of EU delegation Silvie Bavelar, Political Adviser to EU Special Representative in South Caucasus Andrei Didenko, as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Armenia Serge Smesov.
The EU Special Representative congratulated Serzh Sargsyan in connection with Armenia
's presidential elections by noting that elections are important to the strengthening of democracy in any country. According to Peter Szemneby, competitive elections show that pluralism is in fact irreversible in Armenia, and this is very important.Having noted that, attaching great value to elections in Armenia, the European Community closely followed their course and will hold in the center of attention post-electoral processes, the EU Special Representative advised that he had several meetings with government representatives and opposition forces last week and was able to convey to both sides the message of EU High Commissioner on Common Foreign Policy and Security Javier Solana: to refrain from taking such steps as might lead to violence and to act within the bounds of legality by giving a constructive course to the political energy available in the country. In this respect, he said to be appreciative of Serzh Sargsyan
's appeal for cooperation and tolerance as voiced one of these days.Serzh Sargsyan reaffirmed his readiness to cooperate with all those desirous of promoting public well-being and strengthening the nationhood. He advised that certain positive responses have already been received. Serzh Sargsyan assured that the authorities of Armenia are interested in stability and will do everything in their power to prevent post-electoral processes from doing any harm to our citizens and the international reputation of Armenia. All necessary measures will be taken to this end.
