YEREVAN (Armradio.am) — Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics has arrived in Armenia for a working visit at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries discussed the further cooperation within the framework of the EU Eastern Partnership Programme. Latvia will assume EU presidency from January 2015 and will host the Eastern Partnership Summit in May.
Ministers Nalbandian and Rinkevics discussed a number of bilateral, regional and international issues. The Armenian Foreign Minister briefed his Latvian counterpart on the efforts of Armenia and the Minsk Group co-chairing countries towards the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh issue.
“The ongoing belligerent statements by the Azerbaijani authorities after the meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Basel come to prove that Azerbaijan continues to ignore the statements of the Co-Chairs and does not understand the language the international community is speaking. Azerbaijan does not understand the declarative language; therefore, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs should make corresponding conclusions,” Minister Nalbandian told reporters after the meeting.
A few days ago the Turkish Foreign Minister called on Armenia to start cooperating with neighbors. In response to this, Edward Nalbandian said “our foreign policy has always targeted the establishment and development of cooperation with all countries.”
“But is it possible to cooperate with a country, which refuses to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia, which keeps the border closed and comes forth with a number of hostile expressions related to Armenian and the Armenian people?” Minister Nalbandian said.
“It will be possible to cooperate with Turkey, when the latter faces its own history and when it agrees to meet the commitments it has assumed,” Minister Nalbandian said. He reminded that “the international community has declared on many occasions that the ball is in the Turkish court.”
Latvia will preside over the European Union in 2015. In this regard, the Latvian Foreign Minister noted that “it’s important to discuss the issue of the Eastern Partnership roadmap. “Taking into consideration Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, it will implement individual partnership plans with EU member states,” Edgars Rinkevics said.
