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ACNIS Takes Part in Vilnius Conference 2006

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  • ACNIS Takes Part in Vilnius Conference 2006

    PRESS RELEASE
    Armenian Center for National and International Studies
    75 Yerznkian Street
    0033 Yerevan, Armenia
    Tel: (+374 - 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
    Fax: (+374 - 10) 52.48.46
    Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
    Website: www.acnis.am


    May 11, 2006


    ACNIS Takes Part in Vilnius Conference 2006


    Vilnius--Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
    director of research Stiopa Safarian and director of administration Karapet
    Kalenchian represented Armenia respectively at the NGO and the Intellectuals
    fora, entitled "Common Vision for Common Neighborhood," which were
    separately convened in the capital of Lithuania from May 3 to 5. On May 5,
    the ACNIS officials attended the Heads of State Summit held under the
    auspices of President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania and Polish President Lech
    Kaczynski.

    Stiopa Safarian participated in the Non-Governmental Organizations' Forum on
    "Europe's New Democracies and the Euro-Atlantic Agenda" where the conferees
    examined the ex-socialist bloc's and post-Soviet countries' integration
    process into Euro-Atlantic structures and the challenges they face to that
    end. Against the backdrop of the conference, Safarian also held meetings
    with Hilde Hardeman, the European Commission's director general on external
    relations and head of unit for relations with Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus;
    Michael Emerson, senior research fellow at the Center for European Policy
    Studies (EU); Andrei Illarionov, president of the Institute of Economic
    Analysis and the Russian president's former adviser on economic issues
    (Russian Federation); Professor Oleksandr Potyekhin of the Diplomatic
    Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine); Zeyno Baran, senior
    fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Eurasian Policy (US); founder
    and president Bruce Pitcairn Jackson of the Project on Transitional
    Democracies (US); Wojciech Kononczuk, coordinator of the Stefan Batory
    Foundation (Poland); director Cornelius Ochmann of the Bertelsmann
    Foundation (Germany); president Jean-Dominique Giuliani of the Robert
    Schuman Foundation (France); and several others.

    Meanwhile, Karapet Kalenchian attended and addressed the Intellectuals Forum
    held at the conference hall of the Presidential Palace of Lithuania. The
    participants discussed the advancement of democracy in Europe's east, the
    formation of a European neighborhood domain, and the pacific regulation of
    disputes. In the margins of the event, Kalenchian met with distinguished
    post-Soviet scholars and academicians: Dean Leonidas Donskis of the Vytautas
    Magnus University School of Political Science and Diplomacy (Lithuania);
    director Jurij Afanasjev of the Russian State University of Human Science
    (Russian Federation); journalist and political analyst Evgeny Kiselev
    (Russian Federation); director Andrei Piontkovsky of the Center for
    Strategic Studies (Russian Federation); writer Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine);
    historian Igor Sarov (Moldova); executive director Igor Munteanu of the
    Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (Moldova); opera singer
    Mihail Muntean (Moldova); poet and former Belarus ambassador to the United
    Nations Genady Buravkin (Belarus); journalist Vladimir Dorokhov of Deutsche
    Welle (Belarus); director Irma Khvedeliani of the "Civic Dialogue and
    Counsel" European Integration Forum (Georgia); and many others. The
    resolution adopted by the delegates summarized the issues raised throughout
    their active deliberations.

    On May 5, the Armenian representatives attended the Heads of State Summit,
    the official conclave of Vilnius Conference 2006, as observers. The meeting
    brought together Presidents Valdas Adamkus, Lech Kaczynski, Georgi Parvanov
    (Bulgaria), Arnold Rüütel (Estonia), Mikheil Saakashvili (Georgia), Vaira
    Vike-Freiberga (Latvia), Vladimir Voronin (Moldova), Traian Basescu
    (Romania), and Viktor Yushchenko (Ukraine); US Vice President Richard
    Cheney; Secretary General Javier Solana of the Council of the European
    Union; UK Minister of State for Europe Douglas Alexander; and others. The
    open atmosphere of the convention afforded the Armenian delegates an
    opportunity to hold informal meetings and conversations with prominent
    individuals who shape European and Eurasian policy, to explore their vision
    for the future of the Euro-Atlantic system, and to present Armenia's course
    in that connection.

    Founded in 1994 by Armenia's first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
    Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
    as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
    facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
    aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
    understanding of the new global environment. In 2006, the Center focuses
    primarily on civic education, conflict resolution, and applied research on
    critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.

    For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax
    (37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected]; or visit
    www.acnis.am.
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