The decision on EU civilian mission to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border has to be made by the member-states and will be discussed at the Political and Security Committee (PSC) on Tuesday, October 11, Toivo Klaae, EU Special representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, said during an exchange at the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defense (SEDE).
“Looking ahead, we can say that despite everything, despite the difficulties we have had during the past several weeks, the EU is well placed to contribute to the conflict resolution in the South Caucasus region. We are engaged at multiple levels with both Baku and Yerevan and we can build on the experience that the EU has gained not only in the past years, but also over the past decades in the cooperation with the countries,” Klaar said.
He attached importance to the cooperation with the US and added that the full support of the EU member states and the European Parliament will also be extremely important in the peacebuilding efforts of the EU.
“The situation remains extremely dangerous,” he said adding that “as the neighbors of these two countries, we have to help them overcome this in order to build a South Caucasus that is prosperous and establish peace.”
Speaking about the Minsk Group, Klaar said “legally it exists.” “We all know there have been problems for the Minsk Group to act. In particular, Azerbaijan has said it does not consider the Minsk Group is relevant any more. Also there is the particular setup of the Minsk Group. But again, the important thing is that international community helps Armenia and Azerbaijan move towards peace,” the Special Representative said.
