EU envoy calls for political leaders `decisiveness`
Courage and decisiveness of political leaders of the parties to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh are required to achieve progress in resolving the long-standing dispute, an EU official has reportedly said on a recent visit to Armenia. In a meeting at the European Studies Center in the Yerevan State University, EU Special Representative for South Caucasus Philippe Lefort also said the Nagorno Karabakh conflict significantly limits the development and integration of the region, Armenia Today news agency reported. Lefort expressed confidence that there are no insoluble conflicts, regardless of the degree of their complexity.
According to him, the Madrid principles, a peace outline proposed by the mediating OSCE Minsk Group`s co-chairs, are a tool for resolving the Karabakh conflict, and the EU is willing to contribute to their implementation.
Lefort also stressed the importance of public dialogue, adding that the EU was ready to assist in its conduct by implementing programs.
Commenting on recent proposals to replace Minsk Group co-chair France with the EU, he said changing the Minsk Group`s format could bring the entire negotiation process ``to naught``.
``The issue of replacing France has been discussed at the EU, but it is impossible to replace it for several reasons,`` Lefort said but he did not elaborate.
Lefort also said deaths caused by sniper shots are a tragedy, referring to casualties on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
He noted that Ireland, which has experience in resolving difficult conflicts, currently presides the OSCE.
``But the main point is that the parties must realize that this situation cannot linger on,`` he said. ``It is impossible to live under a constant threat of a renewed war.``
Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war in the early 1990s that displaced up to a million Azerbaijanis. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, has been under the occupation of Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks, brokered by the United States, Russia and France through the OSCE Minsk Group, have been largely fruitless so far.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council`s four resolutions on its pullout from Nagorno Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions.
The Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles, are at the core of the ongoing peace talks. The document includes a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.