Toivo Klaar, the European Union’s South Caucasus representative said that it would be impossible to reach a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict without taking into consideration the input of Armenians living in Artsakh.
“I think, after all, the Armenians of Karabakh are, of course, a party that must participate in the solution, no matter in what format. And it is very clear that the people of Karabakh have a fundamental interest in achieving a comprehensive settlement. I personally do not see how we can reach such a settlement without taking into account the opinion and point of view of those people,” he said in an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Klaar was clarifying a much-criticized statement made by European Council President Charles Michel, who after hosting a meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan called Artsakh Armenians “ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh,” without clarifying a status. Artsakh authorities—as well as Armenia’s opposition—insist that Artsakh’s right to self-determination and independence cannot be compromised and are accusing Pashinyan of ignoring those rights.
“I think, in the end, the issue is that this should be a comprehensive settlement. And we all know how the conflict started, it must be finally closed. President Michel did not mention much in his statement. This was not a statement that covered all the issues that need to be addressed. But the fact is that we have always stressed that a comprehensive settlement of the conflict is necessary, we are working in that direction,” Klaar explained.
The EU representative arrive in Armenia on Friday and held meetings with Pashinyan, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Deputy Foreign Minister Ruben Rubinyan, who is Yerevan’s special envoy in talks to normalize relations with Turkey. Klaar is scheduled to travel to Baku on a similar diplomatic mission.
He told RFE/RL that generally he has received positive indications from the leaders of both countries.
“The message I received is that the leaders’ meeting in Brussels a few weeks ago has yielded some concrete results. We had the first meeting of the border commissions. Then in Moscow a meeting was held between the Deputy Prime Ministers to discuss the opening of communication channels, which the leaders had discussed in Brussels. We are very excited. The response from Baku is that the assessment of both the Brussels meeting and its further course is positive. So, there is quite a positive momentum. And I think it can be developed,” said Klaar.
On the uncertain status of Nagorno-Karabakh, Toivo Klaar said the most important thing now is to try to move the process forward, responding to the observation that while Yerevan is talking about the Minsk Group, Baku insists that the Karabakh issue is closed and the Co-chairs’ format can be dissolved.
“The European Union does not claim to have copyright on anything. We are interested in seeing progress and supporting it, I think that is what President Michel was able to achieve through his three meetings with the leaders, as well as through his meeting with Presidents Macron, Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinyan. And that is what we want to do,” said the diplomat, who also mentioned other existing platforms, particularly the trilateral meetings at the highest level in Moscow and the Commission on unblocking infrastructures chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers has restored its sessions.
“It’s great, it’s great if it takes us in the right direction. Thus, the sole interest of the European Union is to help the process and to achieve a lasting, comprehensive settlement,” added Klaar.
