Azerbaijani, German parliamentarians to hold talks in fall

It is particularly important for Azerbaijani and German parliaments to cooperate in European integration and implementation of European legal standards into domestic law and share experiences, Germany-South Caucasus Parliamentary Friendship Group member, MP Manfred Grund said.

"To date, there are a number of contacts between parties and parliaments of our countries. I intend to visit Azerbaijan within the parliamentary delegation in October-November to hold consultations with the Azerbaijani parliamentarians," Grund said.

He said the foreign policy experts in the Bundestag will closely monitor the elections in Azerbaijan. OSCE, for sure, will send its observers - members of various European countries, including Germany, Grund said.

Assessing the chances of success of European integration of the three South Caucasus republics, Grund said that the European Union has made proposals to the region on integration within the European Neighborhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership Program. "EU is not able to promise these countries the prospect of membership in an organization now," Grund said. "It all depends on the countries themselves to what extent they will accept the European standards and implement them in their own."

EU will support the South Caucasian countries in implementing these reforms, Grund said. More extensive use of European standards will promote political, social and economic development of countries in the region, regardless of whether they are EU members or not. Meanwhile, the South Caucasus countries will be able to create preconditions for a possible admission into the EU in the future, Grund noted.

Enlargement of EU apparently will happen in the future othe than in the recent past, he said. 

"One will not speak about the prospects of joining the Union at the beginning of the reform process, but only when the criteria for membership are mostly made," Grund said.

Regarding the issue of unresolved conflicts in the region, Grund said Germany is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group and on this basis, the government supports the steps taken within this framework to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

"The European Parliament clearly supports the basic principles for resolving the conflict," Grund said. "Accordingly, the European Parliament demanded the withdrawal of Armenian forces in conjunction with other prerequisites."

One of these prerequisites, he said, is the replacement of the Armenian armed forces by the international peacekeeping contingent, which could ensure safety of people in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Furthermore, under the Madrid principles, a mutual understanding should be achieved, at least on a temporary status of the Nagorno-Karabakh," Grund said. "This decision will be based on a compromise between the principle of territorial integrity and right to self-determination."


/Trend/