On Sunday 18 October, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, lamented the continuing fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, just hours after the entry into force of a humanitarian ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which began at midnight on Saturday night. A ceasefire had already been announced on 10 October, but had not been respected.
The ceasefire was announced jointly by the two sides, in coordination with the other Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
“The EU deplores the fact that, regrettably, violations continue, with reports of fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh”, the High Representative denounced in a statement, warning that the EU strongly condemned all such attacks, regardless of their perpetrators. “The conflict has resulted in many unacceptable civilian casualties”, he added.
Already the day before, Mr Borrell had criticised the strikes on the Azerbaijani town of Ganja during the night of 16 to 17 October, which left at least 13 people dead and around 40 injured. “All attacks on civilians and civilian installations by either side must stop”, he said.
Mr Borrell said that he had called on the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to remind them that the ceasefire must be unconditional and strictly respected by both sides. “Attacks on civilians should stop immediately. They cannot be justified”, he warned.
The High Representative reiterated that the EU remained ready to support the parties and the OSCE in the search for a long-term solution to the conflict and would continue to monitor the situation. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)