EU supports OSCE Minsk group’s efforts for peaceful resolution of Karabakh issue

YEREVAN, February 9. / ARKA /.A senior EU official has reconfirmed today European Union’s support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia Herbert Salber said during a meeting with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan that the European Union intends to use all the opportunities to promote peace. He said the EU will call on both sides for restraint and respect of the ceasefire.

Serzh Sargsyan’s press service said the two men spoke about frequented provocations on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan and on the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh which fuel tension. Armenian president said Azerbaijan’s militaristic and destructive steps are encouraged to some extent by generalized and impersonal statements on border incidents which create tension, while justice demands that a spade be called a spade to prevent similar situations from recurring.

President Sargsyan reiterated that Armenia attaches great importance to EU’s balanced and consistent position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and its willingness to help build a favorable atmosphere for the continuation of negotiations and a comprehensive solution to the problem.

He said Armenia is ready to continue constructive cooperation with the EU, expressing also hope that the activity of EU’s Special Representative and his visits will help in creating an atmosphere of confidence and stability in the region.

Salber said he visits the region to expand contacts with governmental and non-governmental actors in order to create the foundations for effective assistance in the establishment of peace.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by succeeding referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.

Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.- 0-