Thursday, 19 February 2009
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received EU Special Representative in South Caucasus Peter Szemneby. In attendance were Head of EU Delegation in Armenia, Ambassador Raul Lutzenberger, Polish Ambassador to Armenia Tomas Knothe, French Ambassador to Armenia Serge Smessoff, as well as advisers to EU Special Representative in South Caucasus.
The meeting agenda comprised a broad range of issues, including the influence exercised by the global financial and economic crisis on Armenia’s economics and government programs, as well as on the internal political situation considering that social tensions usually prove exacerbated as a result of emergencies. The parties have also referred to the process of settling Armenia-Turkey ties and the status of bilateral relations with other neighboring countries. At the request of Mr. Szemneby, the Prime Minister stated the government’s readiness to cooperate with all parliamentary and extra-parliamentary political forces in Armenia and communicated their response to the authorities’ invitation for joint endeavors under a number of programs. Tigran Sargsyan noted that similar invitations have been sent off on several occasions, including from the floor the National Assembly.
Then, the Prime Minister briefed the guests on his government’s anti-crisis strategy by stressing that successful talks have been held with various international financial institutions, inclusive of the World Bank and the IMF: “We are getting ready to withstand a new tide of challenges and, of course, we will need the support of our partners from the European Union throughout the difficult period of 2009-2010. Our programs have to be reconsidered with a special focus placed on social and investment-related projects,” Tigran Sargsyan said. He expressed hope that through collaboration with the European structures Armenia will manage to overcome the adverse effect of the global crisis. The head of the Armenian government advised that a prime minister-headed commission and a national council have been established with the view of coordinating the implementation of the 2009-2010 priority action plan.
The EU Special Representative underscored that like other European Neighborhood Policy-involved countries, Armenia remains a focus for the European Union and that the EU High Commissioner for Foreign Policy and Security Javier Solana follows closely the developments in both Armenia and the region, as a whole. Mr. Szemneby further noted that the recent visit to our country of EU External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Commissioner, Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner evidenced the willingness of the European Union to raise to a new qualitative level its relationship with Armenia. Concerning Armenia’s internal situation, Mr. Szemneby conveyed the Union’s keen interest in our country’s political stability, as well as in Armenia’s taking open and transparent steps to overcome the aftermath of the March 1 events. Regarding the settlement of Armenia-Turkey relations, the Special Representative indicated that both of these States are key partners for the European Union and, therefore, the EU will continue backing this process.
