ARMENIAN PRESIDENT DELIVERS SPEECH AT NATO HEADQUARTERS
Tert.am
06.03.12
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who is on a working visit to
Belgium, held a meeting on Tuesday with NATO Secretary General Anders
Fogh Rasmussen.
Following the meeting the Armenian leader and the NATO Secretary
General issued a joint statement.
Below is President Serzh Sargsyan's statement:
"Ladies and gentlemen,
"I am happy to be present at the NATO Headquarters again and meet
with Mr Secretary General. Regular meetings are good occasions for
exchanging views on all the aspects of Armenia-NATO cooperation,
as well as for discussing regional problems and challenges.
"Armenia is actively cooperating with NATO is all areas. Effective
reforms in defense, security and emergency situations are progressing,
They are part of sweeping reforms in progress in Armenia.
"In this context, we stated that the Armenia-NATO Individual
Partnership Action Plan remains the cornerstone of our partnerhsip.
Last November, we approved the third phase of the program and
launched it.
"We highly valued the consistent Armenia-NATO dialogue. In
this context, I stressed the importance of the North Atlantic
Council-Armenia meeting, which is a good opportunity for us to present
our view of the threats to security and challenges facing the South
Caucasus and of the ways of meeting them.
"I am happy that Mr Secretary General personally, and the Alliance
as a whole, highly appreciate Armenia's efforts to contribute to
peace and stability throughout the world. We are well aware that it
is only by combined efforts that we are able to meet the present-day
threats and challenges. With this end in view, we tripled the numerical
strength of the Armenian corps involved in the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF).
"We have also discussed the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process. Azebaijan is flatly rejecting any proposal for
confidence-building - both ones for intensifying regional cooperation
and ones for reducing tension on the Line of Contact.
Unfortunately, Azerbaijan objects to withdrawing snipers from the
front line and investigating incidents. Moreover, it has never stopped
calling for war. Just a few days ago, the President of Azerbaijan
stated that the Armenians scattered throughout the world were
number one enemy of Azerbaijanis. This fact needs the international
community's assessment.
"Mr Secretary General and I are of the unanimous opinion that the
conflict must be settled in a peaceful way, through negotiations within
the OSCE Minsk Group. You can be sure that a final settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is only possible by respecting the peoples'
right to self-determination and cast-iron security guarantees.
"In conclusion, I would like to re-affirm Armenia's willingness for
fuirther mutually beneficial cooperation with the North-Atlantic
Union."
From: Baghdasarian
Tert.am
06.03.12
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who is on a working visit to
Belgium, held a meeting on Tuesday with NATO Secretary General Anders
Fogh Rasmussen.
Following the meeting the Armenian leader and the NATO Secretary
General issued a joint statement.
Below is President Serzh Sargsyan's statement:
"Ladies and gentlemen,
"I am happy to be present at the NATO Headquarters again and meet
with Mr Secretary General. Regular meetings are good occasions for
exchanging views on all the aspects of Armenia-NATO cooperation,
as well as for discussing regional problems and challenges.
"Armenia is actively cooperating with NATO is all areas. Effective
reforms in defense, security and emergency situations are progressing,
They are part of sweeping reforms in progress in Armenia.
"In this context, we stated that the Armenia-NATO Individual
Partnership Action Plan remains the cornerstone of our partnerhsip.
Last November, we approved the third phase of the program and
launched it.
"We highly valued the consistent Armenia-NATO dialogue. In
this context, I stressed the importance of the North Atlantic
Council-Armenia meeting, which is a good opportunity for us to present
our view of the threats to security and challenges facing the South
Caucasus and of the ways of meeting them.
"I am happy that Mr Secretary General personally, and the Alliance
as a whole, highly appreciate Armenia's efforts to contribute to
peace and stability throughout the world. We are well aware that it
is only by combined efforts that we are able to meet the present-day
threats and challenges. With this end in view, we tripled the numerical
strength of the Armenian corps involved in the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF).
"We have also discussed the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process. Azebaijan is flatly rejecting any proposal for
confidence-building - both ones for intensifying regional cooperation
and ones for reducing tension on the Line of Contact.
Unfortunately, Azerbaijan objects to withdrawing snipers from the
front line and investigating incidents. Moreover, it has never stopped
calling for war. Just a few days ago, the President of Azerbaijan
stated that the Armenians scattered throughout the world were
number one enemy of Azerbaijanis. This fact needs the international
community's assessment.
"Mr Secretary General and I are of the unanimous opinion that the
conflict must be settled in a peaceful way, through negotiations within
the OSCE Minsk Group. You can be sure that a final settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is only possible by respecting the peoples'
right to self-determination and cast-iron security guarantees.
"In conclusion, I would like to re-affirm Armenia's willingness for
fuirther mutually beneficial cooperation with the North-Atlantic
Union."
From: Baghdasarian