Azernews.Az

BAKU – The European Union special envoy to the South Caucasus Peter Semneby has said "very little progress" has been achieved in settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh in the past five years.

"There have been some positive developments though," Semneby, who has held the post since 2006, told the press in Baku on Saturday. "For instance, the negotiating process was stepped up in 2008 following the [brief] Russian-Georgian war, which reminded the parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict about the threat of the unresolved status of the dispute. But the number of such advances [in the peace process] is very small."

According to Semneby, the current situation raises concerns, as the Karabakh conflict "is not in vacuum and a changing environment in which it exists could impact it".

"I would regard the armament race in the region as one of such changes," he said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a brutal war that claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. The hostilities, which flared up due to Armenia’s territorial claims, ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, has been under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces since then. Peace talks, brokered by the United States, Russia and France, have largely accomplished no result so far.

Semneby said that the EU supports efforts of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group and personally Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in moving the peace process forward.

"We are confident that these efforts have contributed to easing tension, and without them the situation would be worse."

Semneby has paid his last visit to Azerbaijan in the capacity of the EU Special Representative for South Caucasus. His tenure expired on Monday. Brussels has yet to decide whether or not it will be extended or he will be appointed to a new post.

The office of the EU special representative for the South Caucasus was established in 2006. In May 2010 EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the bloc intends to abolish the posts of its special envoys to the South Caucasus, the Middle East and Moldova. The EU currently has 11 special representatives.

Head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan, Roland Kobia, has said that though Semneby has ended his mission as special envoy, the EU will not scale down its involvement in the South Caucasus region.

"There might be changes in the system, people and the institutional structure may change, but you should be aware that our values and common interests will always be there," Kobia said.