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EU senior offcial to visit Georgia, Azerbaijan & Armenia

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  • EU senior offcial to visit Georgia, Azerbaijan & Armenia

    ArmenPress
    July 6 2004

    EU SENIOR OFFICIAL TO VISIT GEORGIA AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA

    YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS: Commissioner Janez Potocnik will
    visit Georgia on 5-6 July, Azerbaijan on 6-7 July and Armenia on 7-8
    July. The visits follow the decision by the Council on 14 June to
    include the three Southern Caucasian countries in the European
    Neighborhood Policy. Potocnik will welcome the countries into the
    European Neighborhood Policy and explain the significance of the
    initiative to his counterparts.
    Commissioner Potocnik said: "The inclusion of Georgia, Azerbaijan
    and Armenia in the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) sends an
    important message that the EU is fully committed to support the
    Southern Caucasian countries on their route towards building stable
    societies based on democratic values. The ENP provides us with an
    essential instrument to promote progress in reform in each of these
    countries."
    Commissioner Potocnik will meet with the Presidents and the Prime
    Ministers of the three countries. He will also hold meetings with
    other government members, members of Parliament and opposition
    leaders. He will take the opportunity to address wider audiences,
    including civil and business societies, on the ENP and its
    significance for the Southern Caucasus.
    Potocnik will explain the objectives of the ENP initiative to his
    counterparts and set out the next steps to be made by the countries
    in order to follow-up on the Council decision. The bilateral talks
    will also touch on the EU's relations with these countries more
    generally. Potocnik will encourage the partners to put special
    emphasis on conflict resolution and prevention and underline the
    importance of strengthening regional cooperation. The visit takes
    place in the context of the EU's continuing efforts to strengthen
    political relations with the region and to be more actively involved
    in conflict prevention, confidence-building measures and post
    conflict rehabilitation.
    On 14 June the Council decided to include Georgia, Azerbaijan and
    Armenia in the European Neighborhood Policy. At the same time, the
    Council endorsed the Commission's strategy for putting the ENP into
    action.
    The objective of the European Neighborhood Policy is to share the
    benefits of the EU's 2004 enlargement with neighboring countries -
    i.e. stability, security and well-being - in a way that is distinct
    from EU membership. It is designed to prevent the emergence of new
    dividing lines between the enlarged Union and its neighbors and to
    offer them an increasingly close relationship with the EU involving a
    significant degree of economic integration and a deepening of
    political cooperation. The ENP will also help address one of the
    strategic objectives the European Union set in the European Security
    Strategy in December 2003, that of building security in our
    neighborhood.
    Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia all have Partnership and
    Cooperation Agreements in force with the EU. The EU will consider the
    possibility of developing jointly agreed Action Plans, as foreseen by
    the ENP strategy, with the three countries on the basis of their
    individual merits.
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