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Black Sea States Agree On Ties

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  • Black Sea States Agree On Ties

    BLACK SEA STATES AGREE ON TIES
    >From correspondents in Bucharest

    Sunday Times.au, Australia
    Advertiser Adelaide, Australia
    Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
    Courier Mail, Australia
    The Australian, Australia
    June 6 2006

    LEADERS of states around the Black Sea committed today to work
    together on regional problems such as organised crime, security,
    energy supplies and economic development.

    The nine states also called on the European Union to get more involved
    in the region, where many countries are struggling to forge closer
    ties with the West as they move away from Russia's orbit.

    "The Black Sea region now has a chance to become an attractive
    partner for the main centres of economic power if it is capable
    of transforming itself from a source of problems into a source of
    solutions for Europe," Romanian president Traian Basescu told the
    leaders' summit in Bucharest.

    But they made little progress in outlining an end to several
    territorial disputes which stem from the messy dissolution of the
    Soviet Union and cloud the prospects for stability in the region,
    also known to be a major illegal trafficking area.

    "We announce the launch of the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and
    Partnership, a process that will serve as a regional platform ... to
    define a common vision of democratic and sustainable development,"
    the countries said in a declaration, which was not signed by Russia.

    "The forum will provide a framework for generating new ideas ...

    encouraging regional cooperation in crisis management," said the
    nine states including EU candidates Romania and Bulgaria, as well as
    Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine.

    The EU, which is looking for alternative routes for energy supplies
    throughout Asia, welcomed the agreement, urging regional leaders to
    take action on organised crime and territorial conflicts.

    "Our aim is to see a stable, democratic region here ... to help
    fight human trafficking, (the) transit of drugs, to prevent weapon
    smuggling," said Peter Semneby, EU special representative for Caucasus
    and central Asia.

    But the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, locked in a dispute
    over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory, appeared to be no closer to
    resolving the conflict.

    Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan
    but under the de facto control of ethnic Armenian separatists and
    has been a scene of conflict in which about 35,000 people were killed.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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