On April 19, Foreign Minister Oskanian attended the meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers, held in Belgrade. 

The Foreign Ministers of Greece, Russia, Romania, Turkey, Azerbaijan, as well as high-ranking representatives of Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine also took part in the meeting. The Foreign Minister of Serbia opened the Ministerial Meeting and the participants heard a welcoming speech from Serbian President Boris Tadic.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Belgrade Declaration was signed, as was a Memorandum of Understanding on the Coordinated Development of the Black Sea Ring Highway and the Motorways of the Sea in the Black Sea Region.  

The presidency of BSEC has now been passed from Serbia to Turkey for the next six months. The BSEC Summit, devoted to the 15th Anniversary of BSEC, will be held on 25 June in Istanbul. 

The complete text of Minister Oskanian’s speech appears below:

 

STATEMENT BY H.E. VARTAN OSKANIAN
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AT THE BSEC XVI MINISTERIAL MEETING
Belgrade, Serbia
April 19, 2007

 

Mr. Chairman, I join my colleagues in thanking the Government and people of Serbia for their hospitality, and I would like to congratulate the Chairman-in-Office on the successful conclusion of a fruitful term.

The Summit being planned for June will mark this organization’s 15 years.
Anniversaries are by definition significant, since they mark the recurrence of an event of historic importance. This anniversary marks the beginning of a visionary effort -- to turn neighbors into partners, and thus turn geography into history.
For 15 years, a dozen of us have come together at various governmental levels to build bridges across the Black Sea, from west to east and from south to north. The Black Sea Economic cooperation was conceived to provide concrete opportunities for cooperation, integration and support, to provide benefits for all, from a limitless pool of potential, or I should say, a limitless sea of potential. The need that was clear 15 years ago has only become more acute today, especially as we consider deepening our relations with the EU.
Mr. Chairman,

The specific efforts aimed at broadening interaction between BSEC and the EU and institutionalizing such interaction will be remembered as one of the significant outputs of this period.  You have engaged all BSEC institutions so that they can help formulate the structure for such cooperation.

A Black Sea dimension within EU policy will formalize the premise that was at the heart of the establishment of this organization – that as Europe grows and changes, the promise of economic cooperation within and around Europe will grow, and the countries of the Black Sea must be prepared to contribute to and benefit from such developments.

If today, we are signing the Belgrade Declaration, it is because we recognize, reaffirm, and emphasize that which our heads of state and government signed in June 1992 – that there are economic disparities amongst our members, that there are political hesitancies caused by historical and other experiences, and finally, that none of these are reason to avoid cooperation. On the contrary, they are the rationale and motivation for enabling, encouraging, supporting cooperation – albeit slowly and in stages.
And we have done that. From the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank to the International Center for Black Sea Studies, we have built successful, functioning mechanisms for multilateral cooperation. 
Despite differences among states, BSEC and its institutions have already proven their viability. The BSEC tries to be the place where environmental, economic, social and even political differences are mitigated, keeping in view the future, and not the competitive, sometimes adversarial past. 
None of us, here, in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation are here by invitation. We are here because we are here, in this neighborhood, in this region. And, here, in this region, we have transport systems that need to be united, not divided, energy systems that need to be shared not isolated, banking systems that need resources added, not subtracted, education systems that need to be broadened, not secluded, societies that need to be inclusive, not exclusive.

To accomplish this, it is our shared purpose and overlapping interests that must prevail over our sometimes deep-seated differences. As we plan to upgrade and refurbish water systems, we cannot allow existing rail lines to sit idle. As we work to ensure proper conditions for capital flow, we cannot prevent people flow. As we develop projects to share agricultural know-how, we cannot block trade across borders.

Mr. Chairman,

This organization got its start because there was a vision. It continued to operate because those around the Black Sea needed that vision, and those outside the Black Sea region wanted to believe in the promise of that vision. We wouldn’t need an organization such as this one if every country in the Black Sea area cooperated and shared. We need this organization precisely because this is a complex region with a variety of economic, social, historic and political experiences that require special conditions.  That is why we are today launching the Black Sea Ring Highway Caravan as a symbol of the importance of communication networks. 

Yet, the success and effectiveness of this organization will be measured not by the quantity of its projects, but by the audacity of their intent. 

As we congratulate Turkey on assuming the Chairmanship, we note that it will carry the same challenges that lay on their shoulders at the time of the creation of this organization – to be not just the geographical anchor for cooperation in and around the Black Sea, but also the political rudder.

We wish them well and stand prepared to work with them to that end.

Thank you.