Luc Devigne, Deputy Executive Director of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate at the European External Action Service, called, on Wednesday 20 September, on Europeans to be prepared for a deterioration in the situation in Karabakh, the day after the start of the Azerbaijani offensive.
In parallel with Mr Devigne’s hearing before the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan announced on Wednesday that it had ended its military operation, after Armenian separatist forces agreed to lay down their arms and hold reintegration talks.
“We have to be prepared for tragic scenarios, unfortunately, because if the vast majority of the population of Karabakh (150,000 to 200,000 people) were forced to leave, this would lead to a complicated situation for their transfer, and a humanitarian crisis for Armenia”, a country of 2.8 million inhabitants, he warned. He added that the humanitarian situation of the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh was difficult after 9 months of blockade, including the energy one.
He also expressed concern about possible arrests of Karabakh residents on charges of war crimes in the event of a mass evacuation, as has already happened.
During his speech, Mr Devigne also returned to Russia’s role, pointing out that although Russia had 2,000 peacekeepers on the ground, they were doing nothing - they were “not preventing any military operations”.
For their part, MEPs - concerned about possible ethnic cleansing - called on the EU to move from words to deeds. Several of them called for the adoption of sanctions against the leader Ilham Aliev and those close to him, and the suspension of bilateral relations, including the gas agreement. On the subject of sanctions, Mr Devigne pointed out that during a discussion held between the Member States in August, there was no unanimity.
Charles Michel calls for dignified treatment of Karabakh Armenians
For his part, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, announced that he had spoken with the Azerbaijani President in a telephone call “to ensure a full ceasefire and safe and dignified treatment by Azerbaijan of Karabakh Armenians”. “Their rights and security need to be credibly guaranteed. Access is needed for immediate humanitarian assistance”, warned Mr Michel, who has been involved in mediation between Armenia and Azerbaijan for months.
The spokesman for the European External Action Service, Peter Stano, said he hoped that the ceasefire announcement would be followed by action, and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. In front of the media, he also stressed that it was important that the military operation should not be used as a pretext to force the inhabitants to flee.
The day before, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, who had spoken with Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Djeyhoun Baïramov, on the sidelines of the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, had deplored the fact that innocent and vulnerable civilians, “who have already been suffering an acute humanitarian crisis in the region, once again bear the brunt of the use of force”. “It is high time to leave weapons, de-escalate and embrace dialogue”, she stressed, adding that the Council of Europe was ready to take part in the dialogue process and provide assistance to guarantee the full exercise of human rights for all, including the rights of national minorities.
“It is inconceivable that just at the moment when the situation concerning the transport of the humanitarian supply to Nagorno-Karabakh seemed to improve and a glimpse of hope was emerging, Azerbaijan took the decision to launch this show of force”, denounced Tiny Kox, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Véronique Leblanc and Léa Marchal))