On Tuesday, 13 September, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs [and Security Policy] Josep Borrell called for the hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop after fresh fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh left some 50 people dead on the Armenian side.
“It is imperative that the hostilities stop and that there is a return to the negotiating table,” declared Mr Borrell, claiming to be in contact with the foreign ministers of both countries, which have been fighting over the sovereignty of Nagorno-Karabakh—an Azerbaijani region mainly populated by Armenians—since the early 1990s.
After Armenia lost the last war in the autumn of 2020, it had to cede significant territories to Azerbaijan. Since that time, Russia has deployed a peacekeeping force [in that region].
Mr Borrell called on the warring countries to “return to positions held prior to this escalation” and called for “the ceasefire [to] be fully respected”—a ceasefire that the Russians say they negotiated between the parties.
EU Special Representative Toivo Klaar was immediately dispatched so as to help restore order and discuss the next steps in the peace process that the EU has been mediating between the leaders of the two countries, most recently in late August (see EUROPE 13011/5).
France will take this conflict to the UN Security Council, whose presidency it currently holds.
“Disagreements between Council of Europe Member States must be resolved peacefully through negotiations”, said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić. By joining the Council of Europe, “Armenia and Azerbaijan committed to resolve the conflict peacefully,” she reminded the two countries before calling on them to respect their commitment.
Armenia and Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe simultaneously on 25 January 2001. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Véronique Leblanc)