On July 2, Armenian Association of Political Scientists organised a meeting with local experts, during which Andrzej Klimczyk presented concept paper “Euroregion South Caucasus”.

During his presentation A. Klimczyk said that geographically, the South Caucasus is undoubtedly a region with well-defined natural borders, its space being covered by three independent states – Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. These countries also chose different paths of political development and the priorities of their countries' foreign policy.

In the course of more than 30 years of independence, the South Caucasus lost the chance, unlike the Baltic states, to establish a stable and secure space with broad prospects for economic cooperation. Just the opposite happened, with the emergence of divisive lines, separating nations and diminishing prospects of shared prosperity. 

Three countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – could have created unique conditions for common development, allowing them to capitalise on their:

a)    lucrative geopolitical and geostrategic location,

b)    rich natural resources,

c)    well educated and comparatively cheap labour force,

d)    good understanding of mutual problems and existing personal channels of communication across all groups of society,

e)    foreign investor interest.

The creation of the Euroregion “South Caucasus” will not only bring Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia closer to the European Union, but will also bring benefits such as:

• Stability and security in the region would contribute to the success of the three individual countries;
• Integration and trust would trigger a cumulative effect;
• The South Caucasus region could follow good examples of regional cooperation like the Benelux and Visegrad groups;
• Eventually building up a European model of cooperation: a common space and symbolic borders;
• Billions of dollars could be saved, military expenditure substantially downgraded, and living standards upgraded;
• Geopolitical potential is unexploited and the region’s common economic and transit potential is not fully developed;
• Improving confidence in the future.

The benefit for the South Caucasus countries, resulting from the creation of the Euroregion “South Caucasus", would be obvious - starting the process of uniting geopolitical potential and economic interests.

During the discussion, many participants of the meeting expressed their approval of the idea presented by A. Klimczyk.

At the same time, the view was expressed that the concept should be refined and adapted to the current geopolitical situation in the region. Experts agreed that the concept is worth further work to refinement it.

Meeting was moderated by Mr. Mihran Shahzadeyan, Chairman of the AAPSc.