The EU considers that stability in the Southern Caucasus cannot be achieved without a fair resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that we continue to support the mediation efforts of OSCE Minsk Group, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said after the meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“I expressed my support for the statement by the Presidents of the Minsk Group Chair countries made earlier this week in Lough Erne at the occasion of the G8 summit which I attended. The Presidents if the Minsk Group urged the leaders of all the sides to recommit to the Helsinki principles, particularly those relating to the non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity, and equal rights and self-determination of peoples. They appealed for avoiding any actions or rhetoric that could raise tension in the region and lead to escalation of the conflict. I also reiterated our willingness to expand existing measures aimed at bridging the increasing divide between the conflict parties,” Herman Van Rompuy said.
