YEREVAN, DECEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan always tries to pretend that there has been no agreement reached on any issue. This refers to both installation of mechanisms investigating border incidents and the expansion of Kasprzyk’s team, “Armenpress” reports Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian told the reporters in Hamburg during a briefing.

“The Co-chairs clearly stated that there should be progress over the agreement of creating the mechanisms. It was clearly mentioned that all the obstacles facing the expansion of the team of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office should be eliminated. If we enlarge the team by some people, there will be no major changes since there are conflict situations where some hundreds of observers instead of dozens are stationed but again there are no major changes. But it is of key importance that even one symbolic step is taken to show that there is progress. They should add the number of observers, raise the quality and effectiveness”, the Armenian Foreign Minister stressed.

According to him, Azerbaijan had been against the idea of enlarging the observation team just from the beginning, but now says “let’s supplement it by 7 people, but instead of stationing them on the contact line or the conflict zone, send to Baku, Yerevan and Tbilisi, after which they will have to ask Baku for permission to come or not. In this case where is the effectiveness of such an observation mission?” Minister Nalbandian also recalled that several OSCE committee sessions have taken place so far, including the financial one, during which Azerbaijan every time vetoed. This means it hampered the team’s enlargement and more efficient operation.

“They say the mechanisms can be in place after the settlement, but why do we need any mechanisms after the settlement? They push themselves to a deadlock situation, meaning that the entire world says something, but they understand it in another way. They live in an un-real world and try to enforce their opinions upon others. This is the issue. The Co-chairs do not lose hope, neither does Armenia. We will continue making efforts together with them aimed at the implementation of the Vienna and St. Petersburg meetings. The commitment to fully respect the 1994/1995 ceasefire agreements is of key importance for an exclusively peaceful settlement and of course, for the creation of those mechanisms which can be not only investigative but also for deterrence able to limit regional tensions and a better atmosphere for the negotiation process will be established”, Edward Nalbandian concluded.