Perhaps the recent official visit of Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to Brussels and Strasbourg is not by chance. It’s not by chance because Sargsyan is not only the prime minister of the country but also presidential candidate, who has the highest rating according to the American Gallup organization with 29%. Let’s remember that prior to that Sargsyan visited and had serious dialogs in the US and France. If you remember this visit was wrapped by the meeting with the President of France Nicola Sarcozie. When the French Embassy in Armenia organized lunch and invited all the EU Ambassadors to Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan was also invited. That’s when his supporters disseminated rumors that Europe endorses Ter-Petrosyan. However, a bit later similar lunch in the same format was organized for Prime Minister Sargsyan. A similar meeting lately took place with the Legal State chairman Artur Baghdasaryan. During the meeting the Ambassadors asked the presidential candidates to present their key approaches about the internal and external policies. Recently on December 11 Sargsyan’s official visit to Brussels and Strasbourg was over. He had quite serious meetings with the representatives of EU structures, such as EU high commissioner Xavier Solana, EU Science and Research Affairs Commissioner Yanes Potochnik and leader of the European People’s Party Wilfred Martens. The prime minister also had meetings with the CoE Secretary General Terry Davis, Head of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering and Head of the European Parliament’s Commission on Foreign Relations Jacek Marius-Wolsky, NATO Secretary General Yaap de Hoop Scheffer, mayor of Brussels Freddy Tielmans. In the framework of this visit Sargsyan also gave an interview to the Reuters Agency, as well as the "Euronews" and the "Times" newspaper, “Financial Times” and La Mond newspapers. During his meeting with the chairman of the European Parliament Hans Gert Pottering the head of the Armenian government asked him to send an observation mission to Armenia to monitor the presidential elections in the country. They also touched on the last events in the Karabakh conflict settlement process, the regional problems and the forthcoming presidential election in Armenia. Sargsyan reported that Armenia progressed in the implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy action plan. The prime minister said positive conditions in our country contributed to that referring to the successful conduct of the parliamentary elections and the legislative amendments in compliance with the constitutional reform. Pottering expressed his confidence about the peaceful resolution of Karabakh conflict. During his meeting with the head of the European Parliament’s Commission on Foreign Relations Jacek Marius-Wolsky Sargsyan mentioned that for Armenia the priority for Armenia is not to become a member of the European structure but first of all conform to its standards and criteria. When speaking of the upcoming presidential elections Sargsyan once again emphasized the importance of sending an observation mission. By signifying the maintenance of democratic standards during the last NA elections of Armenia Jacek Marius-Wolsky said, “And if you are the person, who has the highest rating among presidential elections I hope next time I see you I will congratulate you on being elected President and will address you as Mr. President.” “The democratic and structural reforms implemented in our country are quite compatible with the spirit and logic of the European development model,” Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan said yesterday in Strasbourg during the meeting with Council of Europe Secretary General Tarry Davis. Davis greeted the Armenian top level official’s often visits and meetings with the Council of Europe saying they are good opportunities for discussions on prospects of cooperation. The parties spoke about the upcoming presidential elections in Armenia and underscored the role of the media in that. This visit on the eve of presidential elections assumes certain agreements with European structures regarding the foreign policy of Armenia. This kind of meetings have serious importance for inter-political matters. During each of the mentioned meetings the parties have discussed the NKR conflict and the upcoming presidential elections. The representatives of the EU states have tried to be aware of the foreign and internal policies of the Armenian presidential candidates on the eve of the presidential elections. While Levon Ter-Petrosyan is spending his time on meetings with oppositional forces Manuk Gasparyan and Davit Hakobyan the governmental wing is negotiating with the international structures. Of course, during these meetings Sargsyan is known as a Prime Minister but an emphasis is put on the possibility of Sargsyan becoming President. It’s not an accident that during his meetings Sargsyan makes agreements with EU, CoE and NATO representatives, which can be done only after the presidential elections 2008.
