Republican Party of Armenia

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Philippe Lefort.
The parties talked about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia’s European integration process and other regional issues.
The Prime Minister pointed out that Armenia is interested in resolving the conflict through peace talks. “The OSCE Minsk Group representatives can prove that Armenia works in that direction, the same, however, cannot be said about Azerbaijan,” said the Head of the Government.
Referring to the question of how the EU can help to resolve the conflict, the Prime Minister said, “First of all, the EU can emphasize in a special document that the conflict should only be resolved in peaceful way and if one of the sides violates this principle, the latter would be punished by international sanctions.”
According to Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, if one of the sides of the conflict believes that it can be resolved with the help of military forces, then they are always armed and prepared for a war, which disrupts the negotiation process. “President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev prepares their people for a war and follows fascist politics. The fact that he has pardoned a criminal, who had killed a man just for being Armenian, is a proof enough. European community has no right to remain silent,” said Tigran Sargsyan.
Philippe Lefort said that the EU supports the efforts of the OSCE Minks group to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully. Lefort expressed concern over the decision by Azerbaijan to pardon Ramil Safarov and reminded that the European Union condemns this move, which damages the strengthening of mutual trust between the conflicting sides.
Speaking of Armenia’s European integration process, the Prime Minister noted that comprehensive steps have been taken in that direction in the recent years. In particular, currently Armenia is successfully carrying out negotiations with EU for an Association Agreement. The Head of the Government expressed hope that in late 2013 Armenia will be ready to sign a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.
Philippe Lefort noted that the EU attaches great importance to the cooperation with Armenia and is ready to take steps to further expand and strengthen it.
The Prime Minister thanked the EU for the continuous support in the reforms taking place in our country.