EU going to increase amount of investments in South Caucasus

PanARMENIAN.Net - The German Foreign Minister has completed his visit to three South Caucasian states. The European Union is interested in suitability in the South Caucasus, reports Deutsche Welle when commenting on the outcomes of the visit. "The first station was Azerbaijan. On Monday, February 19, Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov, President Ilham Aliyev and head of the state oil and gas corporation SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev. Along with the "good neighbor" program, the parties discussed energy issues and the Karabakh conflict as well as outlined prospects of bilateral cooperation. Mr Steinmeier clearly said that the further closing with the European Union directly depends on the course of internal reform in Azerbaijan.



In Tbilisi Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Foreign Minister Gela Bejuashvili, Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, President Mikhail Saakashvili and ex-President Eduard Shevarnadze. The German FM said he estimates highly Georgia goals in the framework of cooperation with the EU. With accessing Romania and Bulgaria to the Union, Georgia became EU's Black Sea neighbor, he said. Mr Steinmeier voiced hope that the tension in the Russian-Georgian relations will be replaced by a peaceful dialogue. Meanwhile, Georgian FM underscored the importance of soonest joining NATO.



"The German Foreign Minister completed his visit by a trip to Armenia. When in Yerevan, he said the European Union is going to increase the amount of investments to the South Caucasus. The EU is interested in stability in the South Caucasus and expansion of cooperation within the New Neighbors program. At that EU's interests are not conditioned with oil or aspiration of some states to NATO, he said. During talks with the Armenian leadership the German FM discussed democratic reform in Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh problem.



The series of visits of the German FM was held within the European Neighborhood Policy which is designed to promote supportive relationships between the states of the region, reports Deutsche Welle.