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Semneby: The South Caucasus is getting closer to the European border

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  • Semneby: The South Caucasus is getting closer to the European border

    Peter Semneby: The South Caucasus is getting closer to the European
    border
    14.01.2008 15:29

    Tatul Hakobyan
    "Radiolur"

    The `Enlarged Black Sea Region: Prospects of International and Regional
    Security' international scientific conference started in Yerevan today.
    The event has been organized by the Armenian International Economic
    Policy Research Group assisted by the OSCE, NATO, the Kingdom of
    Netherlands and the Union of Alumnae of the Yerevan State University.
    The two-day conference features political and public figures, analysts,
    scholars, political scientists from a number of countries, including
    Azerbaijan and Turkey.

    Addressing the conference, EU Special Representative for the South
    Caucasus Peter Semneby said the unsolved conflicts which are the
    heritage of the collapse of the Soviet Union, double the challenges
    existing in the region.

    `The unsolved conflicts hamper the stability in the region and in some
    cases present concern with regard to the possible escalation in the
    future. Despite the unexpected economic growth in the region, the South
    Caucasus is still associated with problems and conflicts.'

    The most complex conflict in the region is that of Nagorno Karabakh. In
    response to Radiolur question, Peter Semneby said one should never get
    disappointed. `I still continue to hope that there will be progress in
    the direction of the Karabakh conflict resolution. At this point
    diplomacy continues and I hope that it will yield results. I hope that
    the presidential elections will be a good opportunity for raising the
    question.'

    EU Special Representative Peter Semneby declared that after Romania's
    and Bulgaria's accession to the European Union, the Black Sea Region
    has acquired a special importance for the EU. He noted that the
    countries of the South Caucasus have got closer to the EU border,
    becoming full neighbors of the European Union.

    According to Mr. Semneby, the development of relations with countries
    of the South Caucasus is one of the priorities of the EU. The European
    diplomat emphasized `the necessity of diversification of transport and
    energy routes, where an important strategic role belongs to the
    countries of the South Caucasus situated on the crossroads of Europe,
    Central Asia and the Middle East.'

    Peter Semneby called the Black Sea region `the place where world powers
    meet to solve the issues of fighting organized crime, illegal
    migration, opening of closed borders and unsolved conflicts.'
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