Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the head of the Czech Government Petr Fiala discussed issues of security and regional importance, apart from the bilateral agenda, Armenian Prime Minister said during a joint press conference.
"Today, Mr. Prime Minister and I had open and full discussions in a constructive atmosphere, which include various spheres of cooperation. I highly appreciate the existing cooperation between our two countries in both bilateral and multilateral formats, including in the context of the Armenia-EU partnership, as well as the Czech Republic's active support for the development of these relations.
I thanked Prime Minister Fiala for supporting Armenia's democracy. In this context, I also emphasized the Czech Republic's support for the decision to deploy a long-term EU monitoring mission in Armenia along the border with Azerbaijan. I regret to note that, despite all efforts, the situation in our region remains tense. The reason for that is, despite the famous agreements, Azerbaijan continues the policy of using force and the threat of force, constantly escalating the situation on the border of Armenia, in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the Lachin Corridor.
Azerbaijan's decision to install a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor and the blockade of the corridor, which preceded it is a gross violation of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 and the interim decision of the International Court of Justice in February. For 4 months now, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have been deprived of the opportunity to move freely. Moreover, Azerbaijan has disrupted the supply of natural gas and electricity to Nagorno-Karabakh, food is sold in coupons, and thus a humanitarian crisis started there. We believe that the international community should assess the situation clearly and targeted, especially since, in our opinion, the above-mentioned actions of Azerbaijan are preparations for carrying out ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this case, we consider it necessary to send an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and Lachin Corridor", said the Armenian Prime Minister.
At the same time, he emphasized that despite all the difficulties, the Government of Armenia has adopted the peace agenda. "We believe that peace in our region has no alternative and is not only a goal, but also a means for the regulation and further development of relations between the peoples and states. We are fully involved in the negotiation process with Azerbaijan, and in the near future we will remain involved, being prepared to record results and not to negotiate for the sake of negotiation. In order to achieve this goal, we hope that Azerbaijan will forget the policy of using force and the threat of force, and we expect that the international community will also issue a similar message to Azerbaijan", said Nikol Pashinyan.
