mr president the report by mr kirilov speaks about the need for an eu strategy for the south caucasus
indeed i believe a strategy is needed but a strategy needs goals and goals pre-suppose a clear geopolitical identity
perhaps we have to work on our geopolitical identity to define it better
what are our goals in the south caucasus
in a nutshell stability openness in the region and interoperability legislative democratic political and so on
one has to recognise the specificity of the region within the eastern partnership and approach that specificity as such
one has also to recognise the specificity of each country within the region and to address it properly
we have to acknowledge and assess the role of turkey in the region and use our negotiations with turkey as a frame for developing an eu-turkey partnership in addressing the local and regional challenges
as has been said already turkey i am sure could be very instrumental from this point of view
we must also acknowledge that the region is part of our common neighbourhood with russia and we have to try to find ways of promoting common policies in that common neighbourhood
the security issues for sure and perhaps some issues related to energy could be dealt with in a trilateral format
this would perhaps help us to promote solutions for the local so-called frozen conflicts
in this respect we have to accept that those conflicts are only parts of a coherent broader and more complex problem with a bigger global relevance
therefore a package deal should perhaps be considered
likewise i think we have to get rid of some ambiguities and understand that the principles of self-determination and territorial integrity cannot always be applied together
finally i think that we have to consider a conference on security and cooperation in the south caucasus with a view to developing a stability pact for that region
