Euronest PA: European lawmakers emphasize Azerbaijan must return Armenian POWs

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS. European lawmakers at Euronest Parliamentary Assembly emphasized that Azerbaijan must fulfill its obligations and release the Armenian prisoners of war, the Armenian delegation to the forum said at a news conference presenting the April 19-20 online meetings.

Four committee meetings took place on April 19. Armenian delegate Viktor Yengibaryan, a member of the political committee, said that issues related to European integration in Eastern Partnership countries were addressed. “Special attention was drawn on the fact that the Armenia-EU agreement came into force from March 1,” he said.

The coronavirus-related problems were also discussed, as well as security matters.

“For us it was a priority to make emphases regarding the issue of returning our prisoners of war under the November 9 trilateral statement. The Azerbaijani side, unfortunately, hasn’t fulfilled its obligation to date. There is a broad consensus among the European partners over this issue. A group of European lawmakers delivered remarks, noting that Azerbaijan must unconditionally fulfill its obligations,” Yengibaryan said.

The Armenian delegates also delivered remarks about the Azerbaijani Armenophobic policy, mentioning the infamous “military trophy park” in Azerbaijan.

Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mizroyan and his Ukrainian and Georgian counterparts delivered speeches during the opening of the plenary session. The Azeri Speaker of Parliament, however, did not. “This shows that the Azerbaijan side is unhappy over the Euronest work because all the anti-Armenian items which they had pushed for in different resolutions failed.”

Armenian delegate to the Euronest Arman Yeghoyan informed that during the energy committee session, the Azeri-authored initiative seeking to push forward the issue of closing the Armenian nuclear power plant failed.

He said that this shows that even at the Euronest PA level it was stated that there are no problems related to the operations of the Armenian NPP.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan