Status qua is unacceptable: Mogherini urges to transmute situation in Nagorno Karabakh into opportunity for peace

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARMRNPRESS. The recent escalation in Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone clearly shows that this conflict has no military solution. “Armenpress” reports High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini expressed such an opinion at the European Parliament during the special discussion on Nagorno Karabakh.

“We continue to insist on strict respect of the ceasefire and moving forward with peace talks. Particularly, targeting civilians must be ceased. But evidently, we cannot agree upon the status qua and our political aim must be that the sides resume negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict”, Mogherini stated.

In her words, the EU supports the settlement of the conflict based on the Madrid Principles proposed by the Co-chairs.

“But we all know that the settlement is in the hands of the parties. They must be ready for sensible concessions for the sake of peace”, the EU High Representative said.

Federica Mogherini also stated that it is necessary to create an atmosphere favorable for negotiations parallel with the preservation of the ceasefire.

“The EU supports all possible mechanisms that can somehow help in this situation, such as the return of bodies of killed soldiers to their families. ICRC and OSCE put into action such a mechanism last week. We need extra efforts, which will accompany the political process, including modern security measures, like the mechanism of investigating ceasefire violations proposed by the OSCE, which enjoys the support of the EU”, Federica Mogherini stated.

In addition to the OSCE efforts, for several years the EU has fostered peaceful interactions between the sides. “Those efforts are more than important today. The conflict settlement will remain on EU’s conversation agenda with Armenia and Azerbaijan as partner countries. I know that speaking about negotiations and confidence-building in the stage of such a burst of violence may seem unreasonable, but it is not so, in reality it is the only reasonable step. The alternative for negotiations will be more casualties and destructions. Now everybody realizes that the status qua can lead to only violence and just that happened. We should not underestimate the threat of that conflict. Let’s transmute the current situation into opportunity for peace”, Mogherini concluded.