Azernews.Az

The European Union-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council held its twelfth meeting in Brussels on Friday, according to the EU.

The EU was represented by Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Poland’s State Secretary for European Affairs, acting on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and Stefan Fule, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy.

The Azerbaijani delegation was led by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who chaired the Cooperation Council meeting.

The meeting took place following the recent visit of Catherine Ashton to Baku on November 15-16 which confirmed the EU’s commitment to reinforcing links with the region, the EU said.

The Council reviewed progress on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. The EU reaffirmed that the status quo is unacceptable and that the solution of this conflict remains a top priority. Both sides reiterated their support to efforts deployed by the mediating OSCE Minsk Group. The EU confirmed its determination to strengthen its support to and cooperation with the Minsk Group, notably through further confidence building measures. The EU expressed concern over the increasing number of incidents at the line of contact of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops and called on all sides to reduce tension and abstain from strong rhetoric.

The Council underlined the need to remain focused on and speed up the implementation of the European neighbourhood policy action plan. It provided a good opportunity to take stock of latest developments in the South Caucasus, as well as to review recent political and economic reforms in Azerbaijan.