EU SIGNS ACCORDS WITH ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA

BRUSSELS, November 14, 2006 -- The European Union today signed accords with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in Brussels. The agreements offer aid, improved trade, and more political cooperation in exchange for political and economic reforms. EU Foreign Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday (November 13) that the accords would help defuse separatist disputes in the three South Caucasus countries. She also told RFE/RL that each of the three South Caucasus nations has its priorities. “We’ve started a new chapter. A new chapter because we have now three action plans with the three countries in the Caucasus region. Each and every one of the countries has its priorities. We of course want to transport our values as well -- human rights, democracy, rule of law,” Ferrero-Waldner said. In Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are trying to secede, while Azerbaijan has a dispute with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov said the EU agreements “offer up a common vision for the future.” Mamedyarov was speaking in Brussels, where he met his Armenian counterpart Vardan Oskanian. The two are due to meet again today and both expressed optimism that progress will be made on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. If successful, the talks will pave the way for a meeting of the two countries' leaders.

Headlines for November 14, 2006

SOLANA SAYS AGREEMENT WITH EU WILL GIVE A LOT TO ARMENIANS
By Harry Tamrazian in Brussels
Below is an RFE/RL Armenian Service interview with EU High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. Q.: What will the European Neighborhood Action Plan bring to the people of Armenia ...
EU SIGNS ACCORDS WITH ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA
BRUSSELS, November 14, 2006 -- The European Union today signed accords with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in Brussels. The agreements offer aid, improved trade, and more political cooperation in ...
RUSSIAN OPERATOR COMPLETES ARMENTEL TAKEOVER
By Shake Avoyan
The Public Services Regulatory Commission on Tuesday allowed Greece's Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA to sell its 90 percent stake in Armenian Telephone Company (ArmenTel) to Russia’s ...
OPPOSITION LEADER PROTESTS PROSECUTOR’S STANCE ON ILLEGALITIES AGAINST HIS PARTY
By Astghik Bedevian
A major opposition party wants the Prosecutor-General to institute a criminal case over what it sees as repeated illegal actions aimed against its activities. Together with several fellow partisans the ...
ARMENIA MAKES SIXTH ROTATION OF PEACEKEEPERS IN KOSOVO
By Ruben Meloyan
Armenia has made a sixth rotation of its peacekeepers in Kosovo as a 34-member platoon left on a six-month mission to the Balkans to serve as part of a Greek battalion on Tuesday. Addressing the soldiers ...