Azernews.Az

The European Union will strongly support peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh in 2012, head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Roland Kobia told reporters on Thursday.

Kobia said 2011 was an important year in terms of the EU’s engagement in the conflict settlement process.

"There were also a lot of direct and indirect calls for a greater EU involvement in the solution over Nagorno Karabakh. This has been materialized by the appointment of EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Philippe Lefort, who has a special mandate to provide some support and help to the OSCE Minsk Group [brokering Karabakh settlement] process," Kobia said.

He said Lefort’s appointment was a strong and clear signal from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to indicate that the EU is retaining its focus on the conflict.

"During her visit to Azerbaijan, Ashton reaffirmed very clearly her willingness to try to facilitate a quick and lasting solution on Nagorno Karabakh," Kobia said.

Lefort, a French diplomat of more than 20 years' experience who has devoted large parts of his career to the Caucasus and Russia, replaced Peter Semneby earlier this year.

The Karabakh conflict emerged during the last few years of the Soviet Union. 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including the Nagorno Karabakh region, has been under Armenian occupation since the two South Caucasus republics signed a precarious cease-fire in 1994 following a lengthy war. Efforts by the US, Russian and French Minsk Group co-chairs have been largely fruitless so far.