Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Peter Semneby: â€We hope that Azerbaijan will do its best to achieve positive assessment of the electionâ€

01 August 2008 16:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva â€“ APA. Special representative of the European Union for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby held a press conference on the outcomes of his visit to Azerbaijan, APA reports. Peter Semneby said the main aim of his visit was to study the state of preparation for the elections in the country. The special representative said he had met with President Ilham Aliyev, Foreign Elmar Mammadyarov, Interior Minister Ramil Usubov and the representatives of a number of NGOs and noted that the election was a good opportunity for laying the foundation of democratic development and creating political culture in the countries, which have newly chosen the way of democracy.
â€œWe attach great importance to the cooperation with Azerbaijan. At the meetings with officials it was stated that Azerbaijani side also attached great significance to this cooperation. Positive assessment of the elections by the international mission is very importantâ€, he said.
Peter Semneby said negative processes in the countries had influence on the elections, but he did not want to comment beforehand.
â€œWe hope that Azerbaijan will do its best to achieve positive assessment of the electionâ€, he said.
Touching upon the Nagorno Karabakh problem, Peter Semneby noted that EU supported the efforts of Azerbaijan and Armenia towards the settlement of the conflict.
â€œIt is good that the two presidents met after a long break in June this year. Though no agreement was reached, it is important for the sides to make a step forwardâ€, he said.
The special representative said high-level meetings in the field of energy would take place between EU and Azerbaijan.