February 14, 2023

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Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell Fontelles on behalf of the European Commission

Since the beginning of December 2022, the EU has been closely following the developments along and around the Lachin corridor and their humanitarian implications. The EU remains seriously concerned about the distress the ongoing restrictions to freedom of movement and to the supply of vital goods are causing for the local population.

High Representative/Vice-President Borrell, supported by EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar, remains in close contact with both sides. The EU has called on Azerbaijan to take the measures that are within its jurisdiction to ensure freedom and security of movement along the corridor, in line with its obligations deriving from the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020. The responsibility of Russia, whose peacekeeping contingent is in control of the Lachin corridor, as per the same trilateral statement, should also be highlighted.

The EU’s humanitarian funding mobilised to address the consequences of the Armenia- Azerbaijan conflict amounts to EUR 3.6 million for 2022. It has been entirely allocated to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is the only international humanitarian organisation able to operate on the ground along the Lachin corridor. Since the escalation of the conflict in 2020, the EU has provided close to EUR 27 million in humanitarian aid and early recovery to support the most vulnerable populations affected by the hostilities.