Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) took a completely sober position complying with the existing international laws, in line with the regulations of the United Nations, a German military expert said in an interview with Azerbaijan's Day.az website.

"That is, they acted quite logically, which previously they did not do so consistently," says PhD Johannes Rau, a member of the Science Forum for International Security.

Rau was commenting on a recent European Parliament resolution which confirmed that Armenian troops have occupied Azerbaijani territories and urged to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions and the L'Aquila statement of the mediating countries' leaders.

"But it is clear now that if the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not resolved, it is fraught with the most complicated conflict, including an armed one, in the Caucasus, with absolutely unpredictable consequences, including those for Europe," Rau said.

According to changes to the resolution, the European Parliament recalls its position that the occupation of territory of an Eastern Partnership member by another member state violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the EU program.

Rau pointed out that 20 percent of the territory of a sovereign state has been occupied, and the invader takes no steps to withdraw from at least one or several occupied regions as a gesture of goodwill.

"And nothing is even said about that, as if everything is all right. They are seemingly waiting for time to pass by and for everything to fall back into place: a new generation will grow up, and so forth. That is, the emphasis is on time, which is unacceptable," Rau said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, defying the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.