'MARATHON' TALKS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH
By Christopher Condon
FT
June 6 2006 03:00
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan held two days of talks over
the disputed territory ofNagorno-Karabakh in what one diplomat called
"a marathon" of meetings.
Robert Kocharian, Armenia's president, and Ilham Aliyev, president
of Azerbaijan, met at the Polish embassy in Bucharest on Sunday and
yesterday on the fringes of the Black Sea Forum, hosted by Romania.
US, Russian and French diplomats attended.
The talks were a coup for Traian Basescu, Romania's president. Mr
Basescu had pushed for the event as a way of putting his country on
to the political map.
Brussels is keen to foster stability in the region now that Romania
and Bulgaria are set to join the European Union in January. "The
Black Sea and the EU are about to meet each other," said a western
diplomat. "There is an apparent sudden recognition in the last six
months that the EU is moving into a region about which it has known
and cared little."
By Christopher Condon
FT
June 6 2006 03:00
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan held two days of talks over
the disputed territory ofNagorno-Karabakh in what one diplomat called
"a marathon" of meetings.
Robert Kocharian, Armenia's president, and Ilham Aliyev, president
of Azerbaijan, met at the Polish embassy in Bucharest on Sunday and
yesterday on the fringes of the Black Sea Forum, hosted by Romania.
US, Russian and French diplomats attended.
The talks were a coup for Traian Basescu, Romania's president. Mr
Basescu had pushed for the event as a way of putting his country on
to the political map.
Brussels is keen to foster stability in the region now that Romania
and Bulgaria are set to join the European Union in January. "The
Black Sea and the EU are about to meet each other," said a western
diplomat. "There is an apparent sudden recognition in the last six
months that the EU is moving into a region about which it has known
and cared little."