On Monday 12 October, the foreign ministers of EU Member States called for the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was implemented on Saturday 10 October, to be respected, something that appears not to have happened to date.
At their EU Council meeting in Luxembourg, ministers emphasised that “the ceasefire must be respected and that all regional players should continue to stop armed confrontation and contribute to keeping the peace”, explained the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at the end of the meeting. During the meeting, ministers discussed tangible aid that the EU could provide in support of the ceasefire; the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves le Drian, whose country is co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, briefed his counterparts on the ongoing efforts of this group.
“The situation is very serious if we take into account the intensity of the conflict, which is on a scale never seen before”, said Romanian Bogdan Aurescu upon arriving at the EU Council.
For his part, Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn called on Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, to take part in efforts to obtain a ceasefire. “Russia is at least making an effort to get a ceasefire. Turkey is not yet following that path”, he explained upon arrival, adding that another humanitarian disaster had to be avoided.
The day before, in a statement on behalf of the EU-27, the High Representative of the Union had stated that the EU was “extremely concerned” over reports of continued military activity, including against civilian targets, and of civilian casualties, despite the announced truce.
He called on the parties to engage “without delay” in “substantive negotiations under the auspices of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, to be held without preconditions and on the basis of agreed principles”.
Read the declaration of the EU-27: https://bit.ly/3jTfW4K (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)