Updated 27 July 2011
The Polish President, Bronislaw Komorowski, will today travel to Yerevan on the last lap of his vist to the South Caucasus. Komorowski was on Monday in Azerbaijan and yesterday in Georgia where he had meetings with the leaders of the two countries.
In Baku the Polish and Azerbaijani leaders reviewed a whole range of issues and signed agreements on foreign policy, culture, economy and science were signed between Polish and Azeri ministries in the presence of Komorowski and Aliyev. The documents signed included a 2011-2013 cultural partnership agreement, a veterinary partnership agreement and an agreement for non-visa traffic for diplomatic passport holders.
"Poland remains highly interested in the construction of transfer systems which would help Poland solve its energy problems, but first and foremost they would be important solutions for the whole EU" said Komorowski at a joint press conference with the president of Azerbaijan.
He emphasised that this pertained both to the gas pipeline and "to an old project, funds for which have been already granted from the EU – the Odessa-Brody-Płock-Gdańsk pipeline." Komorowski assured that the project had not been abandoned.
"Poland is very interested in the progress of Azerbaijan talks with EU institutions regarding prospects for association and inclusion in an area governed by uniform economic rules," the Polish president added.
From Baku the polish president travelled to Batumi where he met President Saakashvili and other Georgian officials. Before leaving for Yerevan the Polish President will meet with civil society representatives and visit EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) headquarters in Tbilisi.
In the South Caucasus the Polish president is extending invitations to the presidents of the three countries to participate in the EU Eastern Partnership Summit which will be held in Poland in September.
Poland took over the Presidency of the European Union earlier this month and is making the development of relations with the South Caucasus one of the priorities of its presidency. The largest and arguably the most important of the Easter European countries to join the EU after the end of the Cold War Poland initially pushed for a tough line on Russia, but in the last two years has also been making efforts to establish relations with Russia on a new more friendly basis. Poland has however been critical of Russia's role in the region, particularly with regards to Georgia.
prepared by the commonspace.eu newsroom with additional reporting from the website of the president of Poland.
photo1 : President Saakashvili and President Komorowski in Batumi
photo 2: The president of Poland with the president of Azerbaijan.
photos: Courtesy of the web site of the President of Poland.
