EP Members have made a statement on the need to resume talks on the status of NK
The members of the European Parliament made a statement on the need to resume talks on the status of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as called on Azerbaijan to release all Armenian servicemen detained by it. Arman Yeghoyan, Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on European Integration, Co-Chair of the Armenia-EU Parliamentary Partnership Committee, wrote about this on Facebook.
"JOINT STATEMENT
by the Chair of the Delegation for relations with the South Caucasus, MEP Marina
KALJURAND, the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Armenia, MEP
Andrey KOVATCHEV, and the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on
Azerbaijan, MEP Željana ZOVKO,
on the need to resume negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Brussels, 2 February 2021 - “Last year’s war between Armenia and Azerbaijan was a terrible
human tragedy. We applaud the fact that the situation has stabilised after the agreement of
9 November 2020 and that – apart from deplorable but isolated incidents – the ceasefire has
been respected, but a lot more is necessary to achieve much-needed reconciliation.
Negotiations on a lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and on the region’s
future legal status remain as indispensable as ever. We call on both parties to reaffirm clearly
and publicly their willingness to re-engage in the process led by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs
and founded on the group’s Basic Principles that they themselves agreed to, reflecting the
Helsinki Final Act principles of non-use of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and
self-determination of peoples. At a time of a fresh momentum brought about by the new US
administration, we firmly reiterate the European Parliament’s - and, indeed, the European
Union’s - continued support to this process and these principles.
The complete implementation of the ceasefire agreement is a necessary first step and it is
regrettable that the exchange of prisoners of war has not been carried out fully yet. We welcome
last week’s release of several of the Armenian servicemen captured after the end of hostilities
and appeal to Azerbaijan to release the rest, so that trust can be rebuilt. We also urge the parties
to ensure fully unhindered access of international organisations for the purposes of
humanitarian assistance and the protection of cultural heritage. These issues underline even
more the need for renewed multilateral efforts to support finding a lasting solution to the
conflict”, the statement reads.
