We shouldn’t Underestimate the Threat of the Conflict: F.Mogherini
Recent escalation օn Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone clearly shows this conflict has no military solution. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, expressed such a viewpoint at the European Parliament during the special discussion on Nagorno Karabakh.
“We continue to insist on strict respect of the ceasefire and moving forward with peace talks. In particular, targeting civilians must be ceased. However, evidently, we aren’t able to agree upon the status quo and our political purpose must be resumption of negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict by the sides”, Mogherini stressed.
In her words, the EU supports the settlement of the conflict based on the Madrid Principles proposed by the Co-chairs. “However, we all know that the settlement is in the hands of the parties. They must be ready for sensible concessions for the sake of peace”, the EU High Representative said.
Federica Mogherini also stated that it is necessary to create an atmosphere favorable for negotiations parallel to the ceasefire maintenance.
“The EU supports all possible mechanisms that may somehow be supportive in this situation, such as the return of bodies of killed soldiers to their families. ICRC and OSCE put into action such a mechanism last week. We need extra efforts, which will accompany the political process, including modern security measures, like the mechanism of investigating ceasefire violations by the OSCE, which enjoys the support of the EU”, Federica Mogherini said.
In addition to the OSCE efforts, the EU has fostered peaceful interactions between the sides for several years. “Those efforts are more than important today. The conflict settlement will remain on EU’s conversation agenda with Armenia and Azerbaijan as partner countries. I know that speaking of negotiations and confidence-building in the stage of such an outbreak of violence may seem unreasonable, but it is not so, basically, it is the only reasonable step.
The alternative for negotiations will be more casualties and destructions. Now everybody realizes that the status quo can lead to only violence and just that happened. We should not underestimate the threat of that conflict. Let’s transmute the current situation into opportunity for peace”, Mogherini concluded.
