Mr. Johannes Regenbrecht, Head of the German Foreign Ministry’s Division for the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia accompanied by Ms. Andrea Wiktorin, the Ambassador of Germany to Armenia, visited the Civilitas Foundation on October 6.
During his meeting with the founder of Civilitas, former foreign minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, Mr. Regenbrecht touched upon various issues from Armenia’s domestic situation to regional issues.
Speaking about the political situation in Armenia, Mr. Oskanian stated that the situation is still tense, and that the sides are not taking sufficient steps to ease the tension. Mr. Oskanian stressed that addressing the situation of the opposition activists detained since March 1 would go a long way to help defuse the situation.
Asked whether the Civilitas Foundation would address these kinds of issues, Mr. Oskanian responded that one of the main objectives of Civilitas is to provide a forum for open and constructive discussions of a variety of issues including human rights, civil liberties, freedom of media, and other important components that make up civil society.
The guests were also interested in other Civilitas programs. They received a brief description about the Civilitas Foundation’s two main program areas: A Council on International Relations , and a Democracy and Development Initiative.
Speaking on regional issues, Mr. Oskanian stated that the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia put Armenia in a difficult situation on the one hand, but on the other hand opened a new window for a broader view of regional problems and Armenia’s future role in the region.
Mr. Oskanian repeated a call to consider a proposal he had made following the Russian-Georgian eruption, about a non-aligned Caucasus, free of adversarial security alliances. He explained that this period of post-conflict reconstruction for Georgia offers an opportunity for the West to consider a regional approach to infrastructure and institutional development in order to bring long-term stability to the Caucasus.
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