Kocharyan says OSCE Minsk Group ought to be preserved

The OSCE Minsk Group should be preserved, according to former President Robert Kocharyan.

Kocharyan held a press conference on February 17.

The Pashinyan administration earlier said it is considering the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The OSCE MG was created in 1992 to spearhead the OSCE's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  PM Nikol Pashinyan earlier said he has a constructive approach regarding the idea of dissolving the format. “We understand the stance that if there is no conflict what's the meaning of the existence of a format dealing with the conflict resolution. But we also want to be convinced that Azerbaijan is approaching this issue in this same logic and for instance, that its motive under developing the narrative of the so-called Western Azerbaijan isn't about engaging in aggressive policy against the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan told Armenpress.

Asked at the press conference to comment, Kocharyan said, “The Minsk group ought to be preserved at all cost, because if the Minsk Group gets dissolved now it will be extremely difficult to have that kind of an international format again.”

A dissolution of the group can be considered only after creating a new, functioning negotiations format, Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan, the leader of the opposition Hayastan bloc, covered a wide range of other issues during the press conference.

He was asked on the EU integration process.

Kocharyan said he doesn’t see an EU accession prospect for Armenia.

The ex-president said the EU is experiencing a serious crisis: a crisis of leadership, a crisis of meaning, and an economic crisis. “The European project itself is in a crisis today,” he said. At the same time, Kocharyan said the EU will not collapse “but will have to subject itself to very serious reforms”. “And first of all, all EU accession processes will be frozen, I have no doubt.”

Elaborating on the EU process in Armenia, Kocharyan said, “You are heading somewhere you are not awaited at all, you are going somewhere that is very problematic in itself. And the United States has acknowledged the fact [the EU] it is problematic. And there’s simply no prospect for entering it, zero.”