Azernews.Az

BAKU – The European Union is concerned over the course of settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on a visit to Baku on Friday.

"We discussed this issue along with other key matters during our meeting with President Ilham Aliyev yesterday," he told reporters. "I expressed my deep concern over the fate of the people who suffered as a result of the conflict…It is high time this issue was resolved in peace."

Barroso said that the EU backs a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict complying with Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. He also noted that the bloc fully supports the mediating efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The European Commission president stressed that the EU is ready to provide its political assistance to advance Karabakh settlement. "We are also ready to render technical assistance for infrastructure rehabilitation after a final [peace] accord is signed," he added.

The Karabakh conflict emerged during the last few years of the Soviet Union. 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, has been under Armenian occupation since the two South Caucasus republics signed a precarious cease-fire in 1994 following a lengthy war. Up to a million Azerbaijanis were displaced in the war that claimed some 30,000 lives. Over a decade of efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.