The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, pleaded on Tuesday 14 December, during a meeting in Brussels with the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, and the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, for a peace process between the two countries.
Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed in Nagorno-Karabakh (see EUROPE 12733/11) in autumn 2020, and again on the border between the two countries in autumn 2021.
At the meeting, according to a statement by the President of the European Council, Aliyev and Pashinyan agreed that, in the context of the planned launch of negotiations on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border between their two countries, further tangible steps should be taken to reduce tensions on the ground in order to ensure an atmosphere conducive to talks.
For his part, Michel called on both sides to “engage actively and in good faith and work towards de-escalation”. “Ensuring appropriate separation of forces is an essential element of incident prevention”, he said. The President of the European Council announced that the EU will provide an expert mission/advisory group on border delimitation and demarcation issues, which will provide technical assistance.
Considering the resolution of humanitarian issues to be of crucial importance, Mr Michel called for the “full and speedy” resolution of all outstanding humanitarian issues, including the release of detainees and the fate of missing persons. In his view, humanitarian gestures by both sides promote trust and help create an environment conducive to progress towards peace and reconciliation.
The EU will continue to support humanitarian demining efforts, including by providing expert advice and assistance to conflict-affected populations, rehabilitation and reconstruction, Michel said. The EU will also continue to support confidence-building measures between the two countries.
The President of the European Council also stressed the importance of restoring the communication infrastructure between Armenia and Azerbaijan in particular, but also more widely in the South Caucasus, while fully respecting the sovereignty of all countries. It was agreed to proceed with the restoration of the railway lines with appropriate arrangements for border and customs controls, based on the principle of reciprocity. The EU is ready to support the development of connectivity links, in line with its economic and investment plan, Michel promised. The economic advisory platform that the EU intends to launch could also support this process. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)