EU SHOULD CONSIDER INTEGRATION PROSPECTS OF SOUTH CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES SEPARATELY, EU COMMISSIONER CONSIDERS

The European Union does not look at the South Caucasus region as a single unit, and should consider the prospects of integration of the three countries separately, Junior EU Commissioner Janez Potocnik told RFE/RL. Thereupon he points to Slovenia, which broke away from the former Yugoslavia to become its first – and, so far, only – EU member state. In Potocnik ‘s opinion, on the one hand it is important to encourage cooperation in the region. But on the other it is also important to give the countries of the region a chance to move forward according to their readiness to cooperation and economic integration with the European Union. At that the European Commissioner refuses to rank Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan according to development, saying only that all three will require “a lot” of effort to attain EU political and economic standards. Potocnik also reported that the European Commission had already begun work to identify major points of concern in the region and suggest ways to move forward.