Month: September 2013

STEFAN FULE: ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT WITH ARMENIA NOT TO BE INITIALED

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

The agreement on association of Armenia with the EU will not
be initialed in Vilnius summit of Eastern Partnership, European
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan
Fule stated on Thursday in Yerevan at the press-conference on results
of unofficial meeting of Foreign Ministers from member states of
Eastern Partnership, Mediamax agency reported.

Stefan Fule noted that EU intends to sign an Association Agreement
with Ukraine and to initial it with Georgia and Moldavia at the
Vilnius summit.

“When coming to Armenia, after declaring accession to the Customs
Union, Armenia didn’t have an opportunity to initial the agreement
on which we held negotiations for three and a half years,” Stefan
Fule stated.

He stressed that an Association Agreement is a single document
consisting of two parts.

According to him, during negotiations with Armenia, the document was
a single whole and it is impossible to divide it into parts.

“I arrived in Armenia in order to hear and to understand the intentions
of our Armenian colleagues, their desires and preferences.

If they want to form a legal format which will give opportunity for
us to go further, than it Is possible through the current Agreement
on Partnership and Cooperation, we will be glad to work within this
format,” the European Commissar stated.

Last week, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan declared the country’s
decision to join the Customs Union and take the necessary practical
steps in this direction and later to participate in the formation of
the Eurasian Economic Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported the decision and
expressed Russia’s readiness to fully contribute to the process.

SWITZERLAND HOPES FOR PROGRESS IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT NEXT YEAR

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

By Sara Rajabova

Switzerland hopes for significant progress in the settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during its chairmanship
in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly next year, the newly appointed
Swiss Ambassador to Azerbaijan Pascal Aebischer said on September 11.

Speaking at a meeting with Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament
Bahar Muradova, Aebischer also said there is good groundwork for the
development of economic relations between Switzerland and Azerbaijan.

In turn, Muradova praised the economic, humanitarian and cultural
cooperation between the two countries.

The deputy speaker highlighted the activity of the Azerbaijani
parliament and the preparations ahead of the upcoming presidential
elections.

She also emphasized the importance of cooperation between Azerbaijan
and Switzerland as part of international organizations, and hailed
Switzerland’s support for Azerbaijan within the OSCE PA.

“Our country approves of the balanced peaceful policy of Switzerland.

We hope for your country’s support in the steps on the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the deputy speaker said.

Muradova also thanked Switzerland for the assistance to Azerbaijan
in solving the problems of refugees and IDPs.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early
1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed
forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian
withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been
enforced to this day.

BUNDESTAG DELEGATION PAYS VISIT TO OCCUPIED AZERBAIJANI TERRITORIES

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

[ 13 September 2013 11:58 ]

Baku. Anakhanum Hidayatova – APA. The German delegation led by member
of Bundestag Jurgen Klimke has paid an illegal visit to the occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

APA reports quoting the Armenian media that the German delegation
held a meeting with the leader of the separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh
Bako Sahakyan. The sides talked about the establishment of mutual
cooperation.

Separatist regime’s “foreign minister” Karen Mirzoyan and head of
Armenia-Germany parliamentary friendship group Artak Davtyan attended
the meeting.

CUSTOMS PROSPECTS OF THE ARMENIAN ECONOMY

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 13 2013

13 September 2013 – 9:14am

David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

In the context of recent changes in the foreign political course of
Armenia, which are characterized by changing the economic vector of
development, the authorities are involved in their favorite occupation
– calculating the growth rate of the Armenian economy.

The head of the State Committee on Security of Economic Competition,
Artak Shaboyan, promised the government that Armenia’s competitiveness
has improved. To confirm his words, he presented a report by the
World Economic Forum on Global Competitive Capacity 2013-2014,
according to which Armenia took 79th place among 148 countries –
it improved its position by three places.

The effectiveness of Armenia’s anti-monopoly policy rose 19 places,
putting it ahead of Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. In the influence
of dominating subjects on the Armenian market, it surpasses not only
several CIS countries, but also Eastern European countries (Hungary,
Slovenia, Slovakia). However, Premier Tigran Sarkisyan reminded that
in customs reforms Armenia takes one of the lowest positions in the
ratings of the World Economic Forum. According to him, in quality
of management schools the country takes 120th place in the world;
the capacity of holding talents – 121st place; export share in GDP –
130th place in the world.

In fact, the Armenian economy is absent in the top-100 of the world
ratings, it’s place is between Mauritius and Equatorial Guinea. In the
2000s the Armenian economy, which is concentrated on production of
non-ferrous metals and food products, managed to gain double-digit
indices of economic growth. However, after the global crisis of
2008-2009 reduced GDP by 14%, economists had to analyze the reasons
for reduction of investment inflows into the republic. The reason was
simple – the corruption level in Armenia is one of the highest in the
world, which doesn’t encourage attracting foreign capital. As a result,
about 13% of the GDP of the republic is money transfers from abroad;
this led to the GDP crash during the crisis.

In January-July 2013 the overall volume of foreign investments in
the real sector of the economy fell by 34.7%, reaching $293 million.

Strangely enough, the investment leader in Armenia is Argentina –
$76.1million, then Russia – $38.4 million, Canada – $36.5 million,
Cyprus – $37.7 million, and France – $28.9 million. In general the
share of direct investments of the Customs Union states in Armenia
is $2.1 billion, which is 40% of all foreign investments. The main
share of these investments comes from Russia and is directed at
transportation of gas, railway transport, non-ferrous metallurgy,
the banking sector, insurance, TV-communication. The trade turnover of
Armenia with the Customs Union states in January-July 2013 was $742.3
million, while the full volume of trade turnover was $3.2 billion.

According to predictions of economic experts, the volume of foreign
investment in the real sector of economy will continue falling till
at least the end of 2013.

According to the head of the Center of Integration Studies of the
Eurasian Bank, Yevgeny Vinokurov, joining the Customs Union will help
Armenia to attract major target investments directed at the spheres
of transport and energy.

From: Baghdasarian

LETTER OF PROTEST SENT TO DANISH PARLIAMENT REGARDING DANISH MPS’ VISIT TO NAGORNO KARABAKH

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

[ 13 September 2013 12:39 ]

Baku – APA. Azerbaijani “Vatan” society in Denmark has sent a letter
of protest to Speaker of the Danish Parliament Mogens Lykketoft,
Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Mette Gjerskov and
Danish MPs.

The society told APA that the letter was written as a protest against
the visit of Danish MPs and journalists to Nagorno Karabakh and other
occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the meetings held there.

The letter says: “I am writing to you on behalf of the members of
the Azerbaijani community in Denmark to draw your attention to and
express our deepest concern with the news coverage on Armenian mass
media which allegedly refers to the recent visit of two members of
the Danish Parliament to the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Since 1992 the Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of the
Republic of Azerbaijan have been illegally occupied by the Armenian
military forces, in direct contravention of four UN Security Council
Resolutions – numbers 822, 853, 874 and 884. However, the Nagorno
Karabakh region has been, and remains legally and internationally
recognized, including by the UN and the Danish Government, as the
integral part of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Therefore by visiting these territories everyone is in danger of
bestowing a measure of legitimacy on an illegal military occupation,
in direct conflict to the position of the Danish Government which
recognizes the Nagorno Karabakh as the sovereign Azerbaijani territory.

We will highly appreciate your understanding of the sensitivity of
the subject matter and we would like to express our hope that the
members of the Danish Parliament will take the above-mentioned in
due consideration and will avoid this kind of visits to the Nagorno
Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.”

SOME PERSONS BLACKLISTED AFTER PAYING ILLEGAL VISITS TO OCCUPIED TERRITORIES APPEAL TO AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY AND PRESIDENT

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

[ 13 September 2013 13:12 ]

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva – APA. Some persons declared personae
non gratae for paying illegal visits to the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan have appealed to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and
President, Spokesman for the Ministry Elman Abdullayev said at the
briefing, APA.

“The applicants expressed their concern over being included in the
“black list” and asked to reconsider the issue. As we have stated,
it is not a final list and can be edited in some cases. Ministry of
Foreign Affairs is ready to consider such appeals,” said Abdullayev.

He noted that some foreign citizens visit the occupied territories
having been misguided: “Armenian lobby misguide these people, they
want to create an image by organizing their visits to the occupied
territories.”

The Spokesman expressed his hope that those removed from the “black
list” will never pay an illegal visit to the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan: “It is disrespect to the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and violation of the law on the state border. It should be
noted that more serious measures can be taken, as well as Interpol
and court can be appealed to declare them wanted for the violation
of the law on the state border.”

Abdullayev mentioned that the relevant authorities of Azerbaijan
should be appealed before a visit is paid to any part of the country.

AZERBAIJAN’S FOREIGN MINISTRY: “THE DEVELOPMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH IS POSSIBLE ONLY WITHIN THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN”

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

[ 13 September 2013 13:25 ]

Baku. Victoria Dementieva – APA. “The development of Nagorno Karabakh
is possible only within the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Our citizens of Armenian origin living in this region are well aware of
this,” said Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev
while commenting on the reports of Armenian media outlets that “the
international organizations intend to invest in Nagorno Karabakh,”
APA reports.

According to him, the companies, which invested in Azerbaijan’s
occupied territories, have been established by Armenian Diaspora and
lobby: “This investment is small.”

FOREIGN MINISTRY MAY REVIEW APPEALS FROM “BLACKLISTED” PERSONS

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry may consider incoming appeals of some
people who were previously “blacklisted” over illegal visits to the
Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan requesting to cancel
the decision, Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said on
September 13.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan
occupied by Armenia are deemed illegal and individuals paying such
visits are included in the “black list” of the Foreign Ministry.

As a rule, the appeals asking to cancel this decision indicate that
these persons were taken to the occupied territories by deception.

Recently, the Foreign Ministry expressed concern over a visit by
Danish parliament members and journalists to the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan.

Earlier, Abdullayev said persons who visit the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan without having agreed upon this with relevant authorities
of the country will be considered persona non grata in the country.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats
over visits to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia,
saying this contradicts international law. The Foreign Ministry
has stated that such visits, paid without prior notification of the
relevant authorities of Azerbaijan, are illegal and damaging to the
settlement process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry released a list of those declared persona
non grata over illegal visits to the Armenian-occupied territories,
which included 335 people.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made
territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early
1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed
forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally
recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent
regions. The UN Security Council’s four resolutions on Armenian
withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE
Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed
by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The
negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

JAMES APPATHURAI: NATO WOULD LIKE TO SEE EARLY RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 13 2013

Azerbaijan, Baku, September 13 /Trend, S.Ahmadova/

NATO would like to see an early resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, , Special Representative of NATO’s Secretary General for
South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai told Trend.

“A solution to the conflict is urgent, but such a solution can only
be political. NATO fully supports the efforts of the Minsk Group to
this end”.

Talking about the possible role of the organization in solution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Appathurai said that at this stage, where
the two sides have not yet come to a full agreement on the basic
principles of a settlement, it is too early to speculate on the role
of any organization or country in implementing such a settlement.

“The term “frozen” conflict is clearly not a good description of
the reality on the ground. Both sides continue to report frequent
cease-fire violations, and there are tragic casualties amongst military
and civilians.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ERASMUS+ WILL BOOST EU’S EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

Europa, EU
Sept 13 2013

European Commission, Androulla VASSILIOU

Member of the European Commission responsible for Education, Culture,
Multilingualism and Youth

Education Ministerial Session of the Informal Eastern Partnership
Dialogue /Yerevan, Armenia

13 September 2013

Minister Ashotyan,

Dear Ministers,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very grateful for this opportunity to open the first ministerial
meeting on education under the Informal Eastern Partnership Dialogue.

I would like to thank Armenia’s Minister of Education and Science and
his colleagues for organising today’s event. It is a great pleasure
to be here, and I am sure we can learn a great deal from each other.

Education, and in particular higher education, has a growing
international dimension. The type of dialogue we are having today
has become a necessity, since we all share common challenges in a
rapidly changing world.

The countries of the Eastern Partnership are at the centre of our
efforts to support democratic and growth-oriented reforms. Your
countries are also the European Union’s privileged partners for
international academic cooperation.

The EU has already shown its commitment to our partnership with you
by greatly increasing the funding of our main cooperation programmes,
Tempus and Erasmus Mundus, for the period 2011-2013. In recent years,
hundreds of institutions and thousands of students and staff in
the region have benefited from these programmes. They have been
instrumental in the reform and modernisation of higher education
systems and institutions in your region.

We have also initiated our policy dialogue with your ministries
under Platform 4 of the Eastern Partnership, a platform dedicated to
“contacts between people”.

But the EU is determined to do more – and we will. Next year, we
launch our new programme for education, training and youth, Erasmus+.

Erasmus+ will replace the Tempus and Erasmus Mundus programmes, and
deliver something bigger and better. We want to build on the good
work so far, increase the mobility of students and staff between
our regions, and give greater support to the modernisation of higher
education institutions and systems.

Erasmus+ will create more opportunities for our institutions to
work together and develop closer contacts between people. We will,
for example, for the first time open the intra-EU Erasmus programme
and offer exactly the same cooperation mechanisms to universities in
your region.

Our meeting today is a unique opportunity to discuss our joint
achievements and the way forward. Education is vital for the prosperity
and stability of our societies, because without well-performing
education systems, there can be neither growth nor development. In
all parts of Europe, the economic crisis has underscored the need
for people to develop a broader range of skills, and it is up to our
schools and universities to meet this challenge.

Labour-market needs in your region have evolved a lot over the past
20 years. Tempus has helped higher education to adapt curricula to
the major transitions in your societies and economies. Since 2008,
more than half of all Tempus projects in the region have focused on
curriculum reform. Through Tempus, many new fields of study have been
introduced or developed.

We want to bring the worlds of education and work closer together,
to ensure that our graduates can acquire skills that are valued in
the labour market. These goals are all part of the EU modernisation
strategy which complements the Bologna Process.

We have invested heavily in learning mobility, and will invest even
more in the years ahead. The evidence indicates that mobility brings
substantial benefits for students and young people, as well as for
higher education institutions and systems.

Mobility helps people to develop some of the skills that are crucial to
meeting the challenges of the global knowledge-based economy. Here,
we are talking not only about better communication, cultural and
language skills but also about a sense of initiative, confidence,
entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to adapt.

Within the European Union itself, learning mobility strengthens
our identity as Europeans and has a positive impact, not only on
individuals but also on our institutions and the quality of the
education they offer.

Students, if they can, want to travel in pursuit of learning; and
institutions and governments agree that they should be encouraged to
do so. Within the Bologna Process, Ministers have agreed that by 2020,
at least 20% of graduates in the European Higher Education Area should
have enjoyed a study or training period abroad.

I firmly believe that academic cooperation and mobility not only
improve quality in higher education. They also open avenues for mutual
understanding that run deep through our cultures, and are among the
best forms of people-to-people contacts. Therefore, cooperation and
mobility must remain at the heart of the neighbourhood policy that
we are celebrating today.

[Presentation of the new Erasmus+ programme and Marie Sklodowska
Curie Actions]

Allow me now to introduce the final part of our discussion by
presenting very briefly our new programmes: Erasmus+ and the Marie
Sklodowska Curie Actions.

Erasmus+, the new programme for education and training, youth and
sport, will merge seven existing programmes into one.

It will bring about simplification, making the programme’s actions more
visible and easier to understand. This will also bring more efficiency
and more coherence between the different actions within the EU and
in our increasingly important work with the other regions of the world.

Erasmus+ will build on the success of Tempus and Erasmus Mundus, and
continue the EU’s support to Eastern Partnership countries provided
before 2013. We want in particular to boost mobility between our
regions, and support partnerships between higher education institutions
which will help to strengthen their capacity.

Erasmus+ will have a strong international component, aiming to attract
the brightest global talent to Europe. It will provide funding for
more outgoing mobility, international partnerships and joint research
projects, as well as for capacity building and staff development in
partner countries throughout the world.

Let me briefly summarise the major innovations of the new programme.

First and foremost, we will support short-term credit mobility. In
other words, we are opening the internal Erasmus programme to
students and universities all over the world. I believe this signals
an exciting new chapter in the story of Erasmus. And it is good news
for the thousands of young people in your region and beyond who will
find it much easier to study for a term or a year in another country.

More higher education institutions will be able to take part in the
programme, since participation will not be restricted to a small
number of organisations participating in a call for tender.

Institutions will enjoy more flexibility when it comes to finding
partners, provided they have signed an inter-institutional agreement.

These changes will have a positive impact on institutions and your
universities in particular. They will boost the number of agreements
between EU and Eastern Partnership institutions, and help them to
internationalise.

Second, Erasmus+ will mean that neighbouring countries continue
to benefit from degree mobility through the award of high-level
scholarships to participate in joint Master programmes. In other
words, we continue Erasmus Mundus Action 1, supporting Joint Masters
and related scholarships under the mobility strand.

We will ensure complementarity with the Marie Curie Actions, which
will continue in Horizon 2020 under the name Marie SkÅ~Bodowska Curie.

These actions will support research activities and especially joint
doctorates. We will retain the strong international dimension, and the
programme will continue to serve as a tool for European universities,
helping them to cement their partnerships with their peers around
the world.

Under the Marie SkÅ~Bodowska-Curie Actions, we will fund joint,
double and multiple doctorates. In addition, European Industrial
Doctorates will encourage academic collaboration with the private
sector to combine learning in innovation and entrepreneurial spirit
with high-level academic research.

The third major change is that Erasmus+ will support capacity-building
through multilateral partnerships between higher education institutions
from the EU and Neighbouring countries.

Here we are building on the success of Tempus. We will strengthen
cooperation with neighbouring countries by integrating a strong
mobility component in those partnerships. We want to ensure that
mobility has an impact not only on the individuals involved but also
on the capacities of Eastern Partnership institutions.

I would like to assure you that the National Tempus Officers, who
are highly valued and have been instrumental in the success of Tempus
in your countries, will become national contact persons and continue
their current role.

As you can see, Erasmus+ will offer many new and promising features
for your countries. But its success will depend on you and your higher
education institutions: together you need to take a leading role.

Therefore, I urge you, Ministers, to ensure that your ministries and
universities seize these new opportunities.

On 24th and 25th October in Kaunas, Lithuania, we are organising an
information day to help your higher education institutions to better
understand the workings of the new programme. Please encourage your
institutions to take part.

To conclude: the EU’s negotiations on the budget for the international
component of Erasmus+ have not yet finished. But I am confident that
my proposals to further invest in education and research and boost
support to our neighbouring countries will prevail. My message has
been clear from the very beginning: investment in education is an
investment in our future prosperity.

Thank you.