“I think it is certainly a progress that will be welcomed by all allies, because they want to see Armenia have as many opportunities to reach out to the West as it does in other directions”, said the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai during a press conference at the NATO Information Centre in Armenia, referring to the possible signing of the Armenia-EU cooperation agreement.
According to him, NATO fully respects the balance to foreign policy that Armenia has. “It causes us no complication that Armenia, for example, is in CSTO, or in the Eurasian Economic Union. From the NATO point of view, Armenia is and has been a reliable partner. To be honest, I do not foresee dramatical lapse forward, because I don’t foresee that Armenia is looking for a dramatical lapse forward. We will continue with steady cooperation and practical improvements that make sense for both parties”.
James Appathurai said that NATO will soon discuss the issue of increasing the number of peacekeepers in Afghanistan and Kosovo in Brussels, “We are thankful to Armenia of the support for the operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo”.
As regards the cooperation with the RA Ministry of Defence, the NATO official said that it is in progress, “We support the process of ensuring transparency and fighting against corruption in the RA armed forces”.
By the way, James Appathurai met with the journalists with a bandaged hand. He explained, that he had played football after a long break, “An Italian guy made a hard shot that I tried to stop, and it got my thumb”.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
