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TUVALU OPPOSITION WARY ABOUT DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH CAUCASIANS
Radio New Zealand International
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=67256
April 3 2012
Tuvalu's opposition has expressed concern over the government's drive
to set up diplomatic ties with countries in the Caucasus.
An MP, Enele Sopoaga, says he is concerned that the government is
going around establishing relations with countries that have unsettled
political issues of concern to the international community.
Last month, Tuvalu formalised links with Armenia which has no
diplomatic links with its neighbour Azerbaijan because of its dispute
over the Nagorno Karabakh region.
Last year, Tuvalu became one of five countries to recognise Georgia's
break-away provinces of Abkhasia and South Ossetia as independent
countries.
Mr Sopoaga says as a peace loving nation fully respecting democratic
principles and the rule of law, Tuvalu should be more sensitive and
selective in its choice of friends.
He says while relations with all countries are important, they must
be based on the pursuance and advancement of Tuvalu's values and its
political and economic interests.
Mr Sopoaga says diplomatic relations should be a matter for Parliament,
not merely something exercised by Cabinet.
Radio New Zealand International
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=67256
April 3 2012
Tuvalu's opposition has expressed concern over the government's drive
to set up diplomatic ties with countries in the Caucasus.
An MP, Enele Sopoaga, says he is concerned that the government is
going around establishing relations with countries that have unsettled
political issues of concern to the international community.
Last month, Tuvalu formalised links with Armenia which has no
diplomatic links with its neighbour Azerbaijan because of its dispute
over the Nagorno Karabakh region.
Last year, Tuvalu became one of five countries to recognise Georgia's
break-away provinces of Abkhasia and South Ossetia as independent
countries.
Mr Sopoaga says as a peace loving nation fully respecting democratic
principles and the rule of law, Tuvalu should be more sensitive and
selective in its choice of friends.
He says while relations with all countries are important, they must
be based on the pursuance and advancement of Tuvalu's values and its
political and economic interests.
Mr Sopoaga says diplomatic relations should be a matter for Parliament,
not merely something exercised by Cabinet.