September 13, 2022

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MEPs call Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect the ceasefire agreement and re-start negotiations

Joint statement by leading MEPs on the ongoing military confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister (EPP, DE), the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur on Armenia Andrey Kovatchev (EPP, BG) and the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur on Azerbaijan Željana Zovko (EPP, HR) issued the following statement on Tuesday:

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the large-scale military confrontations that erupted yesterday night in several locations on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the sovereign territory of Armenia. We deplore the high number of reported casualties.

We call on both countries to fully respect the ceasefire agreement of 9 November 2020. We particularly urge Azerbaijan to stop immediately its offensive, to move back its troops to their initial positions and to fully respect the territorial integrity of Armenia. The reported attacks on civilian population centres and infrastructure are totally unacceptable. Any steps that could lead to further escalation should be avoided at all cost.

The resumption of military hostilities is particularly dangerous at this time as it risks unravelling the progress made by Armenia and Azerbaijan towards a peace deal as the countries’ leaders met two weeks ago in Brussels and agreed to step up work on a draft agreement.

There is a historical opportunity to achieve a durable and sustainable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and it should not be wasted. Therefore, we strongly urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to re-start substantive negotiations as soon as possible under the auspices and with the mediation of the EU and particularly of the President of the European Council Charles Michel.

Once again, there should be no doubt that a stable and long-lasting peace settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be achieved through military means but needs a political settlement in accordance with international law.