Slovenia can assist in resolving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
The ongoing developments in Ukraine are distinct from the events that took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, a Slovenian official said.
Mitja Bervar, Chairman of the Slovenian State Council, said each of these conflicts is peculiar and has its own history.
Commenting on Europe’s active policy in regard to the Ukrainian crisis, he added that considering all cultural and historical factors, the State Council of Slovenia could assist in resolving these problems.
"There was a war in Yugoslavia, as well. Slovenia, went through an 11-day war for independence, in particular,” he noted. “Following that war, we sat for talks and eventually agreed on everything.”
All conflicts should be resolved through peaceful means, said Bervar.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec has recently said the UN resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh should be carried out and his country backed peaceful resolution of the conflict. He added that Azerbaijan stands for stability in the South Caucasus region.
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions are under occupation of the Armenian armed forces for over two decades following a bloody war that sparked in early 1990s. OSCE-brokered peace negotiations to settle the conflict haven't been fruitful so far. Moreover, the Armenian side refuses to fulfill four UN resolutions on an unconditional withdrawal of the troops from Azerbaijan's occupied lands.
Ukrainian crisis flared into armed skirmishes when the country's authorities kicked off a military operation against rebels in Donbass in April, 2014. The rebellion in Donbass was reportedly sparked following the February coup last year. Nearly 5,600 civilians were killed in Ukraine as a result of an approximately year-long warfare, according to the latest data from UN.
The recent negotiations between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in Minsk on Feb.12, ended in up in an accord to bring the conflicting sides - Ukrainian authorities and militias - to a ceasefire from February 15. Nonetheless, both sides refuse to withdraw their armed forces from the crisis zone, blaming each other for continuous attacks.
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