The European Council president, Charles Michel, has began a regional tour of the South Caucasus aimed at re-enforcing the EU's relations with the region.
On Saturday, Michel arrived in Armenia where he had a meeting with the prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and afterwards addressed a press conference.
Michel told journalists that the EU has the ambition to have a loyal, engaged and active relationship with the region that would contribute for its stability, prosperity and security.
Referring to the recent Karabakh War and the circumstances that have emerged subsequently Michel reaffirmed the support of the European Union for the work of the OSCE Minsk Group. Michel highlighted four points which he said he had raised with the prime minister, Pashinyan, and which he will also raise on Sunday with President Ilham Aliyev in Baku. The first was moderation in discourse not to further aggravate the situation. Michel said he welcomed progress on issues such as prisoners exchange and exchange of maps of landmine areas. Secondly he supported the delineation of borders through dialogue, emphasising the importance of the need for troops to withdraw from areas they had advanced to without prior agreement; third was regional-co-operation projects, including in the field of transport; and finally the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Michel also mentioned the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage.
Michel also spoke about the 2.6 billion euros support that the EU was proposing to give to Armenia as part of the new arrangements within the Eastern Partnership framework.
Charles Michel will be in Azerbaijan on Sunday, and in Georgia on Monday.
