OSCE chairperson-in-office due in Azerbaijan

19 February 2019 19:20 (UTC+04:00)

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OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajcak will visit Azerbaijan and Armenia to discuss the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Lajcak made the remarks at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Trend reports.

"I intend to visit Baku and Yerevan in the first half of March to discuss these issues,” he said. “I have invitations from Azerbaijan and Armenia."

Lajcak stressed that Slovakia supports the existing framework for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“We fully support the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,” he said. “I regularly meet with them.”

“A new situation is observed in Armenia after the election,” he said. “The expectations are connected with that. I would like my visit to help determine what can be expected and what results can be achieved. Our goal is to help the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to take advantage of this new situation.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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