Brussels, 19/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton pointed out on Wednesday 18 July that “the European Union does not recognise the constitutional and legal framework” in which the presidential elections were to be held in Nagorno-Karabakh on 19 July. “These 'elections' should not prejudice the determination of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh in the negotiated general framework of the peaceful settlement of the conflict”, Ashton added, recalling the EU's firm support for the Minsk Group for peaceful conflict settlement. She called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to step up their efforts to find a solution to the conflict “which would allow progress beyond the status quo”. She restated the EU's resolve to provide additional support to the efforts deployed with this in view. The 145,000 inhabitants of the breakaway region are electing their fifth president since the end of the war with Azerbaijan, in 1994. Three candidates are in the running: the outgoing president, Bako Saakian, General Vitali Balassanian, and Professor Arkady Soghomonian. (CG/transl.jl)