THE PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA HELD A MEETING WITH THE AUTHOR OF “STABILITY PACT” FOR THE CAUCASUS

20.07.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. The president of Armenia Robert Kocharian had a meeting with the authors of “Stability Pact” for the Caucasus – the co-chairmen of the CEPS task Force for the Caucasus, Michael Emerson, Senior Research Fellow of CEPS and Sergio Celac, ambassador-at-large of the Romanian MFA.
As was reported to MEDIAMAX in the press office of the president of Armenia, Emerson and Celac, representing the main provisions of the worked out document to Robert Kocharian, declared that to the impression they have got, all the countries of the region are interested in the establishing a regional security system. Sergio Celac declared that now is an opportune moment for the formation of such a system.
On July 19 Prime News agency reported that The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair supports the idea of the stability pact for the Caucasus, put forward by the former president of Turkey Suleyman Demirel, as he considers this region one of the most important in the world. The British premier informed this on Wednesday at the briefing after the negotiations with the president of Georgia, Edward Shevarnadze, reports Prime News.
On July 4, speaking at the conference in Berlin, the German minister of foreign affairs Joschka Fischer supported the idea of creating the “Stability Pact” for the region of the Southern Caucasus speaking on July 4 at the conference in Berlin. The head of the ministry of foreign affairs of Germany noted that “all the problems in the Caucasus must be discussed at negotiation table so that the enemies should become partners”. Fischer also noted that he thought impossible the military solution of crisis situations in the Caucasus. “The only possible solution is a political settlement, to achieve which interests of all the engaged parties should be taken into consideration”.
In the near future Michael Emerson – the author of the “Stability Pact” project for the Caucasian region, which has been worked out by the Center for European Policy Studies (located in Brussels) will visit the region. The foreign minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanian declared about this in June during a press conference in the National press-club.
In fact, the center proposes to make use of the idea of the retired president of Turkey Suleyman Demirel and to create Caucasus G8, in the composition of which the European Union, Russia, the USA, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia will be included. -0-