Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The European Union representative voiced EU's intention to contribute to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which emerged in 1988 after Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

"Even though the EU is not an OSCE member, EU representatives have repeatedly expressed their intention to contribute to the rapid settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, EU Baku office head Malena Mard told the media on May 21.

Mard said maintaining the status quo is in the interests of neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia.

"Maintaining the status quo is unacceptable. The EU supports rapid settlement of the conflict," Mard noted.

European Parliament in 2013 adopted a 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 in 2009.

According to changes to the resolution, the European Parliament recalled 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.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in the conflict, which impedes the development of the region, as Armenia continues its policy of aggression.

Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.