Germany is interested in the development of democratic institutions in Armenia, Ingo Mannteufel, Head of the Deutsche Welle Russian Service said at the on-line conference in the Caucasus Journalistic Network.

According to Mannteufel, in the context of the South Caucasus, Armenia is of the least importance for Germany. He views Armenia as Russia’s important strategic partner. Ingo Mannteufel believes, Armenia’s dependence on Russia makes it less attractive to German investors. In addition, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and strained relations with Turkey do not allow Armenia to be considered as a transit state for energy resource supply in the near future.

Concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mannteufel noted that both states’ authorities should create favorable conditions for the development of civil society and independent mass media. Conflicts are impossible to resolve without democratic institutions, he said.

Mannteufel pointed out that lack of democracy in Armenia and Azerbaijan is common knowledge and both nations need greater efforts to create rule-of-law states and independent judicial systems. However, even those measures will not help resolve the conflict in the near future. The expert stressed that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is only possible along with the resolution of all conflicts in the South Caucasus. This is a most complicated conflict, which cannot be resolved quickly and the resolution will not satisfy all sides.

In this context, Ingo Mannteufel pointed out the need for a platform for discussing security and cooperation problems in the South Caucasus.