ArmInfo. The UK continues to resolutely and actively contribute to the achievement of a peaceful Karabakh settlement within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and on the basis of the "Madrid principles," Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Armenia Judith Farnworth is convinced.
Speaking at a conference organized by the Caucasus Institute with the financial assistance of the British Conflict, Stability and Security Fund of the international conference Prospects for a Peaceful Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Local and International Perspectives, the British Ambassador in particular noted that the embassy considers this event and the program as an addition to own efforts.
In his turn, Professor of the Department of Politics and International Relations at St. Anne's College of Oxford University, director of the Oxford Center for International Studies Neil MacFarlane directly linked the personal security of the authorities of the participating countries of the Karabakh conflict, both in fact with the conflict and the nationalism cultivated around him.
In this light, the British professor is more than convinced that the Karabakh conflict was created and consistently stimulated by the authorities of the opposing countries. According to him, the situation will change only if the domestic policy shifts in Armenia and Azerbaijan shift from the conflict in Karabakh to overcome the problems in the social and economic situation and fight against poverty. However, for this, according to McFarlane, it takes time.
The OSCE Minsk Group has been dealing with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict since 1992, represented by the co-chairs from Russia, the United States and France. Currently, the settlement process is based on the Madrid Principles put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in 2007 and the updated Madrid Principles in 2009, including, among other things, the deployment of a peacekeeping contingent in the conflict zone.