Mammadyarov: Azerbaijan seeking substantive results from Eastern Partnership
Azerbaijan is looking for a real and substantive
results of the Eastern Partnership by bringing the standards and
regulations of the daily living of the people in the South Caucasus
to the European standards, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elmar
Mammadyarov said on Tuesday during a press conference in
Brussels.
The first Eastern Partnership conference gathered the foreign ministers of 27 Member States, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, as well as the European Commissioner for Trade and European Neighborhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Mammadyarov confirmed that the energy cooperation with the European states is still very vital and important and Azerbaijan is committed from its side to continue to make programmes in this endeavour.
He insisted on the importance of the people to people contact, mobility, visa facilitation and education can promote the stability and the security in the South Caucasus.
A Comprehensive Institution Building programme will be launched early 2010 with an expert mission to identify the individual administrative needs of partner countries to implement the necessary reforms and thus to be prepared for deeper and further reaching relations with the EU, Ferrero-Waldner said.
On this basis, tailor made programmes will be worked out to enhance and support partner countries capabilities to achieve tangible results in their reform processes within a shorter timeframe, she added.
The EU recognizes the aim of increased mobility for citizens of partner countries. Visa facilitation and readmission agreements are the necessary first step in a gradual process towards full visa liberalization which is a long term goal. Visa dialogues address the individual situation and needs of each partner country on a case by case basis.
On the multilateral side thematic platforms have been constituted to address four main areas of interest: democracy, good governance and stability; economic integration and convergence with EU sectoral policies; energy security; and contacts between people.
"The Eastern Partnership is not the platform for resolving frozen conflicts in the South Caucasus, there is another mechanisms like the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh", confirmed the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
He expressed the hope that the meetings which are taking place between Azerbaijan and Armenia will contribute in the acceleration of the settlement of this problem, he added.
The first Eastern Partnership conference gathered the foreign ministers of 27 Member States, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, as well as the European Commissioner for Trade and European Neighborhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Mammadyarov confirmed that the energy cooperation with the European states is still very vital and important and Azerbaijan is committed from its side to continue to make programmes in this endeavour.
He insisted on the importance of the people to people contact, mobility, visa facilitation and education can promote the stability and the security in the South Caucasus.
A Comprehensive Institution Building programme will be launched early 2010 with an expert mission to identify the individual administrative needs of partner countries to implement the necessary reforms and thus to be prepared for deeper and further reaching relations with the EU, Ferrero-Waldner said.
On this basis, tailor made programmes will be worked out to enhance and support partner countries capabilities to achieve tangible results in their reform processes within a shorter timeframe, she added.
The EU recognizes the aim of increased mobility for citizens of partner countries. Visa facilitation and readmission agreements are the necessary first step in a gradual process towards full visa liberalization which is a long term goal. Visa dialogues address the individual situation and needs of each partner country on a case by case basis.
On the multilateral side thematic platforms have been constituted to address four main areas of interest: democracy, good governance and stability; economic integration and convergence with EU sectoral policies; energy security; and contacts between people.
"The Eastern Partnership is not the platform for resolving frozen conflicts in the South Caucasus, there is another mechanisms like the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh", confirmed the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
He expressed the hope that the meetings which are taking place between Azerbaijan and Armenia will contribute in the acceleration of the settlement of this problem, he added.
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