Belgium, Brussels, Dec. 9 / Trend T. Mahmoud /
"The Eastern Partnership is not a platform for resolving frozen conflicts in the South Caucasus. There are other mechanisms like the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
"I hope that the Azerbaijani-Armenian meetings will contribute to the acceleration of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he added.
The Eastern Partnership is a Polish-Swedish initiative under the EU Neighborhood Policy aimed at improving EU relations with former Soviet countries. The program was approved at an EU meeting March 20. The founding summit of the Eastern Partnership will be held May 7. The Eastern Partnership will include six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. Under the program, the EU will provide neighbor countries with 600 million euro in 2009-2013.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
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