Pres. Sargsyan Statement at Conclusion of Yerevan Summit of The EPP

THE PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA, CHAIRMAN OF THE RPA SERZH SARGSYAN MADE A
STATEMENT AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE YEREVAN SUMMIT OF THE LEADERS OF
THE EPP EASTERN PARTNERSHIP MEMBER STATES

30.11.2012

Today, at the conclusion of the Yerevan Summit of the leaders of the
EPP Eastern Partnership member states, the President of Armenia,
Chairman of the RPA Serzh Sargsyan, President of EPP Wilfred Martens,
President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, President of
Georgia Mikheil Sahakashvili, and Prime Minister of Moldova Vlad Filat
recapped the results of the Summit at the meeting with the
participation of the representatives of the mass media.

***

Statement by the President of Armenia, Chairman of the RPA Serzh
Sargsyan at the conclusion of the Yerevan Summit of the leaders of the
EPP Eastern Partnership member states

Distinguished representative of the mass media,

Today, Yerevan for the first time hosted the regional Summit of the
leaders of the EPP and Eastern Partnership member states. Last year,
at the EPP Summit in Marseille membership of three Armenian political
parties to this pan-European structure was a great event of historic
meaning. One of the most important objectives of the European
rapprochement is the fostering of contacts between our nations,
societies, and individuals, while political parties are certainly
constitute an important part of these societies.

Cooperation among political parties plays significant role from the
viewpoint of dissemination of the European political culture and
strengthening of the pan-European system of values. We attach
importance to the EPP role in the consolidation of the European
identity and in deepening cooperation with the EU partner states. It
also contains great opportunities for making our voices more audible
in the international and interparliamentary structures.

I would like to express gratitude to the President of EPP Mr. Martens
for the warm reception which was extended to the Armenian political
parties in the large family of the European People’s Party.

I greatly appreciate participation of the President of the European
Commission Mr. Barroso in this Summit. Mr. Barroso, your immediate
participation in the Summit has proven once again that problems of the
Eastern Partnership and its perspectives are under the constant
attention of the European Commission.

Today, we have discussed issues on the agenda of the Eastern
Partnership and preset our step up until the Eastern Partnership
Summit in Vilnius in 2013. We have adopted the Yerevan Declaration
which reflects our common vision regarding the future of the Eastern
Partnership, regional problems, and the role of the EPP.

The Eastern Partnership program was created as a format for
cooperation based on common values. For Armenia, it is important from
the viewpoint of using the best European practices for the
implementation of the large-scale reforms. We are confident that the
mission of the Eastern Partnership will be fully realized when all
member states equally commit themselves to the implementation of
democratic reforms.

As a family of the Christian-Democratic Parties, the European People’s
Party cannot tolerate violation of democratic liberties, xenophobia,
belligerent rhetoric, and threats to use force. These phenomena revoke
in our collective memory the darkest pages of our history.

We cannot be indifferent to the fact that Turkey, which aspires to be
become a member of the European Union, carries on with the illegal
blockade of Armenia – a member of the Eastern Partnership program. We
are confident that the last closed border of Europe must be opened
immediately, without preconditions. We discussed how to boost
democratization in the Eastern Partnership countries, how to make
European markets accessible for our manufacturers, how to facilitate
contacts among our citizens, first easing and later removing entry
visa requirements. This is what citizens of our countries expect from
us.

Membership of three Armenian political parties to the European
People’s Party has given a new impetus to the Armenia-EU dialogue. And
for that, we thank all our colleagues.

Thank you.

http://www.president.am/en/press-release/item/2012/11/30/President-Serzh-Sargsyan-EPP-summit-press-speech/