Minister Oskanian Participates in Conference on Wider Europe Initiative

March 19

Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vartan Oskanian, participated in a conference on Wider Europe - The New Agenda, in Bratislava, Slovakian, on March 19. The conference, attended by presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers from Europe, North America and the CIS, focused on Europe's Wider Europe Initiative. In a panel on Europe's Black Sea and Caucasus Neighborhood, the Prime Minister of Romania and the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria joined the presidents of Azerbaijan and Georgia, and Armenian's Foreign Minister Oskanian to speak about the prospects for the Caucasus in a future, wider Europe. Following statements by President Saakashvili, who recounted recent events in Georgia and their implications for Georgia's European future, and by President Aliyev on Azerbaijan's economic and political prospects, Minister Oskanian spoke about Armenia's expectations of Europe, and responded to Azerbaijan's standard accusations which were repeated by President Aliyev in his statement.

In the margins of the meeting, Minister Oskanian met with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and they discussed the recent murder of an Armenian officer at a NATO Language Training program, in Budapest, Hungary, by an Azeri officer. They also discussed Armenia-NATO relations.

Minister Oskanian also met with the co-chair of the Minsk Group who were in Bratislava to attend the conference. The Minister will meet with them in Prague later this month.

Minister Oskanian was interviewed by Azerbaijani, Slovak and Armenian journalists, about the Conference.

Below is the entire text of Minister Oskanian¹s extemporaneous comments on a panel on Europe¹s Black Sea and Caucasus Neighborhood At a Conference on Wider Europe: The New Agenda Bratislava, Slovakia Friday March 19, 2004.

First let me say that I¹m honored to be present here, in this distinguished gathering, and let me also say that the government and the people of Armenia appreciate this initiative. The Wider Europe initiative, and the Caucasus inclusion in it, is an important initiative. It is a clear signal from Europe to our region, to the 3 Caucasus republics, that indeed there are prospects for these three countries to be integrated in European structures and especially to become part of the European family. And the fact that two presidents of Caucasus republics and I (representing my own president who could not attend for reasons beyond his control) are here is testimony of the fact that the European direction is high on the agenda of all three countries.

I recall in the early 90s, there was a debate within the Council of Europe about whether the Caucasus belonged to Europe and to that organization. The debate ended with a resolution that indeed the three Caucasus republics do belong to Europe. And the membership accession process began at that time. That was 1992. Before 10 years were over, Georgia first, then Armenia and Azerbaijan also joined as members of the Council of Europe. But those years of the accession process were extremely useful in advancing democracy, human rights and rule of law in each of our three countries. In other words, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia became the beneficiaries ­ not just of membership itself, but of the process.

A month ago, in Brussels, the Council of Ministers asked the Commission to make a recommendation before the end of the term of the Irish presidency back to the Council of Ministers on the issue of including the Caucasus in the Wider Europe ­ New Neighborhood Initiative. I want to draw a parallel between this and the 1992 decision by the Council of Europe to consider the Caucasus as part of Europe. We ourselves as leaders, and historians, will look back at that date as marking the beginning of the process of accession of the three Caucasus republics into the European Union. I have no doubt that this road, too, will be difficult and tortuous, but I also have no doubt that we will get there. Because we got the signal from the European Union that yes, indeed,, the three Caucasus republics, if they meet the criteria, someday, down the road, can be considered for membership in that organization.

This is extremely important. It gives new hope, new prospects to the Caucasus and the three republics. But we have to make a clear distinction, so we do not have any false illusions. The European Union offers us the prospect, not the promise. We have to make a clear distinction. What we are getting today, and what we will hopefully get before the Irish presidency is concluded, is a prospect, but not the promise. This is clearly understood by Armenia, and I have no doubt that it is understood by our neighbors. But it is we in the Caucasus who will turn that prospect into a promise. The sooner we do that, the better it will be for the region and for the countries that comprise that region. That¹s why putting not just our own houses, but the whole region in order, is extremely important. President Saakashvili was in Yerevan and in Baku recently. He was visiting the two neighbors. Both in Azerbaijan and in Armenia, he spoke about the common Caucasus, a free trade zone, deeper integration. We share that vision President Saakashvili, and we would like to work towards that end. We would like to see Azerbaijan also join in, not just through Georgia, but to accept that the three of us must move in that direction.

Let me not underestimate the true problem that we face. There are indeed obstacles which stand in the way of Armenia and Azerbaijan fully engaging in regional cooperation and integration.

That problem is the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. But we have to be realistic. We have to look at this conflict from the perspective of the future, not from the perspective of what we have on the ground at this moment. That¹s not to say we can ignore the past or ignore history. Nor can we ignore what we have now, but we must look to the future. That¹s why the European prospect gives us a better context not only to advance democracy, human rights and rule of law in our countries, but also to try to put regional conflicts, ethnic conflicts within that global process. If we can do that, we can succeed in resolving even the most problematic, the most contentious problems, and among them, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

I must say frankly, I was disappointed to hear President Aliyev¹s statement today and the way he approached the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. At least in this forum, he should have put a different light on this issue and should have looked to the future.

President Aliyev, Armenia is not an aggressor. Armenians are not aggressors. You¹re not the vanquished, we¹re not the victors. At this moment, we are both victims. We have to work so that in the future, we both become victors. This phase of the conflict is only one frame in a much longer sequence of frames. We can not just look at this one frame and make a judgement. This is not the end. The conflict is not over, and we¹ve never claimed anything beyond what we think we deserve -- that the international community look at this from the point of view of the rights of the people who live on those territories.

Yes, there are refugees. But on both sides. We¹re tired of hearing the number one million. Yes, there are one million refugees ­ but that¹s a cumulative number. There were 400,000 Armenians living in Azerbaijan before this conflict began. President Aliyev, where are those people? Aren¹t they refugees? If they are not living under tents as a showcase to the world, that does not mean that they do not exist. They do exist. There are refugees from both sides just as there is suffering on both sides. Both sides have certain rights that need to be addressed. I understand that you want to recover the territorial integrity of your state, but we want to see the people of Nagorno Karabakh and their right to self-determination respected. They don¹t want anything beyond a normal, peaceful life. They want to join their brothers and sisters in Armenia, as people throughout the world have done throughout history. They want to belong where they do belong. That¹s what they want and what Armenians want in the region.

Let me tell you this: we have no claim to anything beyond the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination to be recognized. We have to look to the future, put this conflict within the context of integration into the European Union. We still think that we can begin cooperating in our region. We can work together on a second track, parallel to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict negotiations and try to make the two complementary. We can work to create a better environment within which we can address and resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict for the betterment of our two countries and our two peoples.