Debate: The resumption of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Date: WEDNESDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2020
Speaker: Josep Borrell Fontelles
Language: EN

But the European Council has made it very clear that they consider that the frame in which to mediate and to act on this conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group Co—Chairs. This was clearly what the European Council said. They asked me to support the work of the OSCE Minsk Group Co—Chairs. That’s what we are doing. But we have to allow this group of people to work because it is the only group that is being recognised by the two sides. I think that Mr Bütikofer is right when he says that there are some new things in this conflict. One is that the Americans are withdrawing and Turkey is taking a stronger, much more assertive, position. The European Council also discussed the relationship with Turkey – and I invite you to listen to the conclusions of the European Council – and said that, in December, we will take stock of the evolution of the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and all the conflicts in which Turkey is more or less involved in order to take decisions on how we continue our relationship with the country. We are going to continue calling for a ceasefire and I will bring your voice to the Foreign Affairs Council of Ministers. We will remind both sides of the obligation to protect civilians under international humanitarian law and keep working with Turkey in order to build a constructive contribution to the conflict settlement and help the efforts to stop the hostilities.  We have a Special Representative for the South Caucasus, who is there and who is in touch with both sides. Yesterday, the Turkish Minister was in Baku and I was really concerned when I saw that he was expressing full support for Azerbaijan. My last talk with the Azerbaijan Minister was also very worrying because he was clearly saying that the fight will continue until Armenia accepts a concrete schedule for withdrawing from Nagorno—Karabakh, which is a precondition for talks. It is very difficult. The situation is becoming worse and worse. All of you have been asking us to act, but I’ve been hearing very few concrete versions of the verb ‘act’. What do you mean by ‘act’? We can do what we can do, but this is the way that we have to take this situation. We’ll do whatever we can do in order, as I said, to support the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, which is the frame that the European Council decided to support in order to look for a negotiated solution, pushing both sides to end the fighting, and especially putting pressure on Turkey not to continue intervening.  But by act if you mean take military action, that is completely out of the question. We are going to do what we can do as the European Union with the resources that we have on the diplomatic arena, and wait for December, as decided by the European Council, and see what happens from now until December to review our relationship with Turkey. This is what the European Council decided after a long discussion on Turkey and our relations with Turkey and I have to stick to that. I will obey, and I will try to implement, the mandate of the European Council in order to support the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs that I hope this week will have meetings with the Foreign Affairs Minister of Azerbaijan and I hope also with Armenia.