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Peter Semneby: We hope Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents to meet until the upcoming presidential elections

23 February 2008 09:48 (UTC +04:00)

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubayli-APA. Peter Semneby, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, has held several meetings at the Council of Europe.
He told APA Bureau that he met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Human Rights Commissioner, Ago Group members, and Chairman of the Venice Commission to have discussion on the results of Azerbaijan visit, the next visit of AGO Group members to Azerbaijan, and the human rights commission report on Azerbaijan.
He added that the European Union will hold certain projects in the run-up to presidential elections in Azerbaijan, and will closely watch pre-election situation and other matters related to the electoral legislation.
Peter Semneby said he was not aware of Azerbaijanâ€™s Foreign Ministryâ€™s protest note on the fact that international organizations monitored elections in Azerbaijanâ€™s occupied lands during Armenian presidential elections.
â€œI doubt any observers went to Karabakh. What I can say is that there had been no plan to follow elections outside Armenia,â€ he added.
As to the Kosovo precedent for Nagorno Karabakh and other conflicts in the former USSR area, Peter Semneby said each conflict is unique in itself.
â€œConflicts have more differences than similarities. This is applicable to the conflicts in South Caucasus too. Kosovo and Karabakh conflicts are completely different. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is a more complicated one, I would say. However, it is clear that this conflict should be solved through peace negotiations. It is our position. Armenia has recently elected its new president. We hope this will intensify peace negotiations and will give impetus to settlement of the conflict. Continuation of negotiations during elections in the two countries is very important. I would like a meeting between Armenian new president and Azerbaijani president to take place. However, this is in the interest of the parties, the sooner the better. We hope the meeting will take place until Azerbaijanâ€™s presidential elections,â€ he added.
Semneby also noted that the European Commission will discuss a report on the implementation of the Action Plan on Azerbaijan in April.