ArmInfo.Shavarsh Kocharyan, the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister, thinks that European entities, and especially OSCE , should voice their principal position in respect to Baku's efforts to put embargo on OSCE Yerevan office mandate extension. "European entities accepted easily the decision on cancellation of OSCE coordinator's office in Baku, which caused consequences we have now," Shavarsh CKocharyan said to journalists on January 19 after the Government session.
According to Kocharyan, the problem is that all the decisions of OSCE are taken based on consensus, and Azerbaijan uses this opportuniy. According to Kocharyan, Baku gets to arm twisting stating that can block the budget ( OSCE branches and institutions have common budget), if things go in other way than Azerbaijan expects. "There are many tools to stress the country that puts itself over international norms," Kocharyan mentioned.
To remind, the operation of the OSCE Office in Yerevan hangs in the air due to the lack of consensus on extension of its mandate. The OSCE Offices in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan face the same situation. The mandate for operation of the OSCE Offices is extended annually on the basis of the OSCE Participating States' consensus.
Meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tigran Balayan says that Armenia backs the OSCE Office in Yerevan and consistently provides assistance within the frames of OSCE corresponding decisions. He notes that since the OSCE Office in Baku was closed, the OSCE Office in Yerevan has been the only full representation of the Organization in the South Caucasus. Balayan states that the role of the OSCE Office in Armenia is valued by OSCE Chairmanship, OSCE Secretariat and other institutions of the Organization, as well as by the absolute majority of the Participating States, except for one. "The OSCE is known to operate based on consensus, and notwithstanding the wide support, it has been impossible to reach agreement so far on the extension of the OSCE Yerevan Office's mandate. Austria's OSCE chairmanship currently continues the negotiations on coordination of the draft decision, and Armenia also participates in the consultations as the host country.