YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. On May 16 a meeting was held between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Vienna with the initiative of the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries and with the participation of the US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Désir. Ceasefire maintenance mechanisms, as well as the expansion of the existence of the OSCE Minsk Group observers were discussed during the meeting. In this context, Jaromír Štětina, Czech military journalist, MEP, a member of the EU-Armenia and the EU-Azerbaijan parliamentary cooperation, as well as a member of the delegation of the “EuroNest” Parliamentary Assembly, gave an interview to “Armenpress”.  

-Mr. Štětina, how would you assess this meeting, which part benefits from this in terms of diplomatic viewpoint?

-The meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot bring any damage, however, I do not expect anything from this meeting, I simply can say that it was a positive step especially after the Azerbaijani attack in the northern part of the Nagorno Karabakh in early April. I think that the two sides can benefit from the meeting, I can say who will lose as a result of these negotiations: Russia will lose, and from the geopolitical view, of course, the escalation of the conflict is beneficial for it. I think it’s time to speak about the NKR recognition, since it is a sovereign country over 25 years and has all features like any other state. The first is the military: the Nagorno Karabakh won in the 90s war, and it cannot be taken by force as Aliyev wants. Another thing is the state of economy, and it can be seen that the Nagorno Karabakh achieved progress in the economic sector. And eventually, it has a strong political system, it has a Parliament which usually cannot be found in various democratic states. That’s why I think that such kind of talks may lead to the point that eventually the world will start to be interested in the issue of the recognition of the Karabakh as a sovereign country.  

-Azerbaijan after the calls by the international community, came to the negotiation table, how you comment on this?

-I think that here Azerbaijan’s involvement in the “Eastern Partnership” plays a key role: Azerbaijan’s participation in this meeting was an attempt to improve its relations with the European countries.

-Do you believe that this meeting will somehow restrain Azerbaijan and will reduce the possibility of unleashing further aggression, especially when there were cases of ceasefire violations even after the meeting?

-When the Nagorno Karabakh solved the issue in the 90s, the OSCE Minsk Group in fact did nothing to solve the conflict, and from that time people of the Nagorno Karabakh understood that this organization will not support them and they went on their own way: they just bought Kalashnikov and won the war. They were just protecting themselves, and I think that the faith of the Nagorno Karabakh is to protect itself since it is hard to believe that dictator Aliyev will keep any promise.

-What do you think about the installation of monitoring mechanisms, how will it work and what result can be achieved from it?

-Every monitoring can only be useful over this issue, since if there will be gross ceasefire violations, as Azerbaijan did in early April, the presence of the witness will be necessary here. Of course, I think the installation of the monitoring mechanisms was a positive step, however, I fear to say what results it can bring, but I think it will remain within the stage of talks, and no document will be signed on it.

Syuzi Muradyan