Since the outbreak of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday 27 September, the European Union has been calling on the parties to the conflict, as well as the regional powers, to do everything possible to avoid a war.
“This is the last thing the region needs”, said Peter Stano, spokesman for the European External Action Service, pointing to the “serious consequences” that the escalation of violence could have on regional stability.
The day before, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, in talks with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, called for a “cessation of hostilities”, which reportedly have left more than 50 people dead, and for the parties to return to the negotiating table under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Fighting between Armenia-backed separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijani armed forces has raised fears of open war between Baku and Yerevan. Turkey openly supports Azerbaijan, while Armenia and Russia are parties to the same military alliance: the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
Referral to the ECHR. On Monday, the European Court of Human Rights announced that it had received a request for an interim measure lodged by Armenia against Azerbaijan.
The Armenian Government is asking the judges in Strasbourg to rule that the Azerbaijani Government must put an end to: - military attacks towards the civilian settlements along the entire line of contact of the Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces; - indiscriminate attacks; - targeting of civilian populations, civilian objects and settlements.
The request for an interim measure currently under consideration was submitted under Article 39 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This article is generally activated in the event of expulsion or extradition and allows for the notification of emergency measures which apply only in cases of “imminent risk of irreparable harm”.
The Court is not subject to statutory deadlines for responding, but it will do so “as soon as possible”, announced one of its spokespersons.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the monitoring co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for Armenia and Azerbaijan urged “all Council of Europe Member States to refrain from any action or discourse that could contribute to tension and instability in this region”, a clear reference to interference by Turkey and the Russian Federation. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Véronique Leblanc)