Nagorno-Karabakh: Borrell (EU) and Buric (CoE), end conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “Immediate cessation of hostilities”

“I call on our Member States Armenia and Azerbaijan to show responsibility and restraint by immediately stopping hostilities. When entering the Council of Europe, both countries committed themselves to solving the conflict by peaceful means, and this commitment is to be strictly respected”. Marija Pejčinović-Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, reminded the two countries of their obligations amidst reports of renewed military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, whose consequences are disproportionately felt by civilians who are already vulnerable. “On behalf of the Council of Europe, I call on the authorities of our two Member States to do everything possible to protect human lives and not to engage in military conflict. No efforts should be spared to stop the escalation”. The European Union, too, via its High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, has called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” and a “strict observance of the ceasefire”. Both Pejčinović-Burić and Borrell call on the OSCE Minsk Group to find a “peaceful solution to this conflict”. During its last meeting in Paris on 14 September, the Group, co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation and the US, had invited the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia to an in-person meeting to resume negotiations.
Valentina Bombelli