The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek will visit Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia next week as part of an increased engagement on the part of European legislators with the South Caucasus region. Buzek's visit comes shortly after the launch of EURONEST, the Parliamentatry Assembly of the EU Eastern Partnership dimension, which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
In recent months the European parliament has issued a number of resolutions connected with the South Caucasus. They generally reflect a new willingness on the part of European policy makers to engage with the region and its problems. The resolutions also express concern regarding the current situation around the unresolved conflict regions in the South Caucasus, and the state of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Russia and Georgia.
The European Parliament has had standing delegations to the three countries for many years, but these have been mainly focused on developing bilateral relations. A new approach is emerging, amidst an increasing realisation that many of the problems affecting the three countries have a regional dimension, and concerns that the unresolved conflicts in the region may spark further violence.
source: commonspace.eu
photo: launch of EURONEST in Brussels on 3 May 2011, (photo courtesy of the Press Service of the European Parliament)
