European Parliament calls on EU countries to make efforts to resolve the confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. A European Parliament resolution of 8 June 2022 on security in the Eastern Partnership area and the role of the common security and defence policy, calls on member countries to use their efforts to help resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

The text of the document, posted on the European Parliament's website, notes in particular that the 44-day conflict triggered by Azerbaijan (against Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 autumn) fundamentally altered the political, strategic and operational status quo of the South Caucasus, resulting in thousands of casualties, tens of thousands of displaced people and led to Russia’s deployment of approximately 2 000 so-called peacekeeping troops to the Lachin corridor and in and around Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the 10 November 2020 ceasefire agreement.

The resolution also noted that skirmishes between Azerbaijan and Armenia continue to take place and the conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh has not been settled.

It says Russia will not be able to settle alone a conflict born in the post-Soviet space, while the EU’s lack of strategic foresight and diplomatic initiative has allowed Russia, Turkey, Iran and other actors to strengthen their influence in the South Caucasus.

The resolution recalls that the main pipeline to supply gas to Nagorno-Karabakh has been damaged and left the disputed territory without access to energy supplies on 8 March 2022 as a result of ongoing military engagements between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

It also recalls that at the beginning of January 2022, the forces of the CSTO (spearheaded by the Russian military and also including troops from Belarus and Armenia, among others) intervened in Kazakhstan, at the request of the country’s government, to assist in the crushing of civil unrest in order to ensure the continuation of the current ruling regime and to use the organization in support of its interests.

In view of the above, the European Parliament reaffirms the commitment of the EU and stresses its unconditional support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of the Eastern Partnership countries within their internationally recognized borders, as well as its support for their efforts to fully respect these principles and stresses the importance of unity and solidarity of the member states in this regard.

The resolution welcomes the outcome of the high-level meeting of the President of the European Council Charles Michel, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on 14 December 2021, in which both leaders reaffirmed their preparedness to work on open bilateral issues and to launch negotiations on border demarcation, for which the EU is prepared to provide technical assistance.

It also calls for the EU and the Member States not to let the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia become intractable. -0-