EU diplomats said they “cautiously” hoped it would be possible to move forward on the normalization procedure between Armenia and Azerbaijan. [Twitter/Elysee]
In a new four-way mediation effort in the standoff between Yerevan and Baku, the parties concerned announced on Thursday (October 6) that the EU would send a “civilian mission” to Armenia to help demarcate the borders with Azerbaijan.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel met twice for several hours on Thursday night on the sidelines of the first meeting of the European Political Community in Prague.
“There was an agreement through Armenia to facilitate an EU civilian project along the border with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan agreed to cooperate with this project as far as it is concerned,” according to a joint statement issued after the talks.
It will start in October for a maximum of two months, with the aim of “building trust and. . . give a contribution to the border commissions,” he added.
According to the joint statement, Armenia and Azerbaijan also showed their commitment to the UN Charter and the “Declaration of Alma Ata of 1991 through which they recognize each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “
The announcement came days after the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met for talks in Geneva to begin drafting the text of a long-term peace treaty.
Alma Ata or Almaty the capital of Kazakhstan at that time. The 1991 Treaty of Alma Ata established the principles of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), adding popularity and respect for the territorial integrity of all and the inviolability of existing borders. However, the Treaty of Alma Ata did not save the large-scale clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh in the winter of 1992. The standoff has not been resolved since.
Last month, Yerevan and Baku accused others of breaking a ceasefire between the warring nations, as at least 286 other people were killed on both sides before a U. S. -brokered truce ended the worst fighting since 2020, when simmering tensions turned into all-out war. .
“Fast track” process
The four-way talks on the sidelines of the forum, a new consultation forum of 44 European leaders to discuss peace and prosperity across the continent, also their maximum and remarkable photo shoot.
The EU has tried to interfere in the diplomatic rift, presenting itself as a mediator.
The EU wants stability in the South Caucasus, a region that fits even more in the context of tensions with Russia. The EU wants combustible materials from Azerbaijan and is based on a “central corridor” linking Asia from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. .
In August, Brussels hosted a trilateral meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev to discuss how to conduct long-term clashes, and Michel said a meeting between border governments would take position in November.
However, without a significant EU presence in the room so far, it has not been to enforce the terms of the ceasefire.
EU diplomats said they “cautiously” hoped it would be possible to advance the normalization procedure between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Macron, absorbed and tense, tweeted a symbol of the 4 leaders gathered around a table with the comment: “For a lasting peace in the Caucasus. “
After the meeting, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in his country that the peace process with Armenia “has now accelerated. “
Aliyev said the foreign ministers of the two countries will meet “soon. “
“We have proposed that the working teams of the two countries meet and paint on the preparation of the text of the peace agreement for a few days. That’s our intention,” he said.
Armenia sees Russia as the main best friend that can ensure its unstable security, the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), with Moscow operating a military base in Armenia and being a key intermediary in the region.
But Russia has visibly lost its influence in the region, having focused its utmost attention on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Turkey is a key supporter of Azerbaijan. On the contrary, Iran will move closer to Armenia.
In Prague, the leaders of Turkey and Armenia met in their first face-to-face assembly since agreeing on relations last year after decades of animosity.
The two countries have had formal diplomatic or industrial relations since the 1990s.
In January, Turkey and Armenia held the first of the talks in more than 10 years, calling them “positive and constructive” and raising the possibility of restoring ties and reopening borders.
The latest move is the first attempt to repair ties since a 2009 peace deal that was never ratified.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said after an assembly with Armenia’s Pashinyan that he “sincerely believes” that the two countries will achieve complete normalization of relations on the basis of “good-neighborly relations. “
The decades-old escalation of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday (Sept. 13) fueled fears that a full-blown second war could erupt in the European community in addition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)