Azerbaijan’s behavior questions Baku’s commitment to peace process: Armenian PM delivers remarks at NATO summit

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered remarks during the NATO summit in Brussels at the meeting of the heads of states and governments contributing to the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Armenpress presents the full text of the PM’s speech:

“Respectful Prime Minister Michel,
Respectful President Ghani,

Respectful Secretary General,

Dear colleagues,

First of all I want to thank Prime Minister Michel for the warm reception. Participating in this event, which is dedicated to the international efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan, is an honor for me. Peace and security are vital for the sustainable development: the democracy and free market economy are also such. As you know, Armenia recently launched drastic changes with the goal to build its democratic future. The victory of velvet revolution in Armenia was the clear manifestation of the maturity of the Armenian society, the advocate of its commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today’s meeting once again highlights the issues of international security and the need to maintain the existing collective approach on this matter. Firm belief and readiness to bring peace, security and stability to the good people of Afghanistan unites all of us.

We highly appreciate the efforts of the Afghan government to increase the state-building and security level. This would be impossible without the unconditional dedication and sacrifice of the Afghan people, army and security forces. However, still a lot needs to be done so that the progress becomes irreversible.

As an advocate of collective security, Armenia will continue contributing to the efforts aimed at strengthening international peace and security.

The peace process requires constructive approach and discussion of positions of all sides. Therefore, we need to unite the efforts of the international community to reach exclusively a peaceful settlement, which is very important for the European security in general.

Since 2010 Armenia contributed to the NATO’s actions on establishing peace in Afghanistan, also within the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Resolute Support mission. We appreciate the productive cooperation between Armenia and Germany, which, in my opinion, is one of the best and vivid examples of partnership between a NATO member and partner states.

We are ready to continue our engagement to the mission with up to 130 troops. We have also expressed our readiness to participate in NATO’s sustainable partnership mission when it comes to replace the Sustainable support mission.

Armenia will continue supporting the inclusive peace process led and participated by Afghanistan. I want to once again state that we will continue supporting the international efforts aimed at establishing comprehensive peace, prosperity and stability in friendly Afghanistan.

As there was a talk on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, I have to touch upon the settlement of this conflict, although I think that this issue is incompatible with the format of these discussions as this meeting pursues other goals. NATO has constantly and comprehensively stated that it plays no role in this conflict settlement process.

Nevertheless, as the issue has already been raised, I would like to briefly comment on and make clarifications in the context of the already made statement. Armenia, like any other democratic country, reaffirms its commitment to the exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format. Any attempt to settle this conflict through military means should be viewed as an attack on democracy, human rights and peace.

The recent ceasefire violation and provocation cases provoked by Azerbaijan on the border with Armenia and the line of contact with Artsakh seriously question Baku’s commitment to the peace process.

We reaffirm the importance of the implementation of the previous agreements, in particular, those reached during the meetings in Vienna, St. Petersburg and Geneva, which aim at creating favorable conditions for peace and making confidence-building measures”.