Cross-border cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan would open up new opportunities for the Karabakh conflict settlement, Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for the European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, said at a press conference in Riga.
The Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit in Riga (May 21-22) is designed to determine the shape of future relations between the 28 EU member states and six member of the bloc's Eastern Partnership policy: Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus. At least two these states anticipate visa elimination, though the European Commission's May 8 report assessing the implementation of Visa Liberalisation Action Plans by Ukraine and Georgia does not inspire with optimism.
Commissioner Hahn pointed out the example of cross-border cooperation on the Balkans, which is a quite relevant example for all the parties to the Karabakh conflict. He thinks that the cross-border cooperation will first of all become an important element in building confidence between the conflicting parties.
He stressed that the EU is exerting all possible measures to resolve the conflict. He also pointed out the need to use new methods to settle the conflict.
In the meantime, Hahn expressed confidence that the participants in the Riga summit will work out compromise formulations for the final declaration of the summit.
To remind, Armenia and Belarus refused to sign up to any statement that called "Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula illegal" and EU diplomats said a compromise text would be put to them.