On Tuesday, January 9, Minister Vartan Oskanian held the first press conference of the new year. He met with representatives of the Armenian  media to present them with a roundup of the foreign relations priorities, concerns and successes of 2006, and the expectations of 2007.

The Minister explained that foreign policy and foreign relations were conducted in 2006 in an international arena where various realities and factors had direct and indirect impact on Armenia.  These included tense Russian-Georgian relations and the resultant closure of transport routes, nuclear nonproliferation concerns and the international community’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program, the continuing absence of Armenian-Turkish relations and the closed border, the continuing fight against international terror, political and military instability in regions near Armenia, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon), energy security and energy diversification concerns in the context of international competition among various countries, the still-evolving post-soviet structures and systems, reform processes within international organizations, European integration and enlargement, developments regarding various conflicts (including Kosovo) in and around the region, the activation of GUAM as a regional organization, and the Nagorno Karabakh resolutions process.

The Minister stressed that Armenia has pursued its interests and continued to implement the policy of complementarity. In that context, there have been concrete results. These include securing essential transport links despite the continuing blockade; continuing to secure foreign direct investment and foreign markets; assuring the unfettered usage of energy pipelines and diversifying energy sources; aiding in the process of securing Armenia’s democratization; preserving the positive progress of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process and enforcing the principle of self-determination in the negotiating document; raising the level of  engagement of Armenia’s integration into the European family; successfully increasing the level of cooperation within the CIS; deepening of the Armenia-NATO cooperation through the Individual Partnership Action Plan; successful continuation of our bilateral relations with neighbors, major powers and international organizations; continuing practical and productive work with the Diaspora, particularly through the ArmeniaDiaspora III Conference.

About 2007, Minister Oskanian said that work would continue on all these fronts: Nagorno Karabakh negotiations would continue until we are able to secure the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh for self-determination; European integration processes would continue through the Council of Europe, the EU Neighborhood Policy and NATO’s Individual  Partnership Action Plan which is up for assessment in the first half of this year. Bilateral and multilateral relations will be addressed with an eye to deepening and strengthening them. Cooperation with the Diaspora will continue through the Rural Poverty Eradication Program, as well as special events, such as the Golden Apricot Film Festival in July (the fourth this year) and the Pan-Armenian Games, which also will be held for the fourth time this August.

The Minister stressed that Parliamentary Elections to be held in 2007 will also require the active engagement of the Foreign Ministry.

Finally, he explained that cultural diplomacy will remain a focus of the ministry’s work, especially with the very active Year of Armenia in France, as well as efforts to maintain the destruction of Armenian cultural monuments in Nakhichevan at the center of attention of international organizations.

Questions followed. The Ministry’s Summary of  2006 is available in Armenian.