EU MUST PLAY GREATER ROLE IN STABILISING SOUTH CAUCASUS, MEPs

Baku, April 10 (AzerTAc). The European Union must steer a strategy for stability, prosperity and conflict-resolution in the South Caucasus, MEPs insist in a draft resolution adopted by the Foreign Affairs committee on Thursday. “The region is central to the EU`s energy interests as it hosts the South Caucasus Pipeline, transporting gas from the Caspian to the Black Sea.”
MEPs wish the EU strategy for the South Caucasus to concentrate on three domains: conflict resolution, promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law; and economic cooperation and social development.
The implementation of the Eastern Partnership, which covers the three South-Caucasian republics, and the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty offer the EU a prime opportunity to conceive a comprehensive strategy for the region, says the report, drafted by Evgeni Kirilov (Bulgaria).
Europe will have to deal with a complex geopolitical situation, however, in a region marked by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Recognizing the importance of the region for the EU`s energy security and supply, MEPs express their support for the strengthening of EU-South Caucasus cooperation in energy projects, in particular for the successful realization of the Nabucco pipeline.