European Parliament resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh

Pursuant to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of the Rules of Procedure
replacing the following motions:
B9-0075/2023 (Renew)
B9-0076/2023 (The Left)
B9-0077/2023 (Verts/ALE)
B9-0078/2023 (S&D)
B9-0081/2023 (ECR)
on the humanitarian consequences of the blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh
(2023/2504(RSP))
Pedro Marques, Marina Kaljurand, Isabel Santos, Robert Hajšel, Evin
Incir
on behalf of the S&D Group
Nathalie Loiseau, Petras Auštrevičius, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Dita
Charanzová, Olivier Chastel, Katalin Cseh, Vlad Gheorghe, Klemen
Grošelj, Bernard Guetta, Svenja Hahn, Karin Karlsbro, Karen Melchior,
Javier Nart, Urmas Paet, Frédérique Ries, Michal Šimečka, Nicolae
Ştefănuță, Ramona Strugariu, Hilde VThe European Parliament,

on behalf of the Renew Group
Viola von Cramon-Taubadel
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
Charlie Weimers, Emmanouil Fragkos, Elżbieta Kruk, Angel
Dzhambazki, Anna Zalewska, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Assita
Kanko, Eugen Jurzyca, Adam Bielan, Carlo Fidanza, Bert-Jan Ruissen
on behalf of the ECR Group
Stelios Kouloglou
on behalf of The Left Group
Fabio Massimo Castaldo

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Armenia and Azerbaijan,
– having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the outside
world, the Lachin corridor, has been blocked by self-proclaimed environmentalists from

Azerbaijan since 12 December 2022; whereas this has disrupted access to essential
goods and services, including food, fuel and medication, for the 120 000 Armenians
living in Nagorno-Karabakh, effectively placing them under a blockade;

B. whereas the blockade has led to a severe humanitarian crisis, significantly affecting the
most vulnerable populations; whereas the transfer of critically ill patients is nearly
impossible, with one death resulting from this situation; whereas hundreds of families
remain separated;

C. whereas this humanitarian crisis was further aggravated by Azerbaijan’s disruption of
the natural gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh, which left houses, hospitals and schools
without heating;

D. whereas by sustaining the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan is breaching its
international obligations under the trilateral ceasefire statement of 9

November 2020,
under which Azerbaijan must guarantee the security of persons, vehicles and cargo
moving along the corridor in both directions;

E. whereas the impediments to the use of the Lachin corridor set back the peace process
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and undermine international confidence;

1. Deplores the tragic humanitarian consequences of the blockade of the Lachin corridor
and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;

2. Urges Azerbaijan to respect and implement the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020
and immediately reopen the Lachin corridor to enable free movement and ensure access
to essential goods and services, thus guaranteeing security in the region and
safeguarding residents’ livelihoods;

3. Underlines the need for a comprehensive peace agreement, which must guarantee the
rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population; calls on Azerbaijan to
protect the rights of Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh and refrain from its
inflammatory rhetoric that calls for discrimination against Armenians and urges
Armenians to leave Nagorno-Karabakh;

4. Urges Azerbaijan to refrain from undermining the functioning of transport, energy and
communication connections between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in future;

5. Strongly condemns Azerbaijan’s scapegoating of human rights defenders and CSOs and
calls on EU and Member State representations to support their work;

6. Condemns the inaction of Russian ‘peacekeepers’; considers that their replacement with
OSCE international peacekeepers, under a UN mandate, should be negotiated urgently;

7. Calls for international organisations to be granted unimpeded access to NagornoKarabakh to assess the situation and provide the necessary humanitarian assistance;

8. Calls for a UN or OSCE fact-finding mission to the Lachin corridor to assess the
humanitarian situation on the ground;

9. Calls for the urgent resumption, without preconditions, of negotiations based on the
principles of the Helsinki Final Act;

10. Calls for the EU to be actively involved and ensure that the inhabitants of NagornoKarabakh are no longer held hostage by Baku’s activism, Russia’s destructive role and
the Minsk Group’s inactivity;

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to Armenia, Azerbaijan and
international institutions.