ArmInfo. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh has made the following comment on a recent statement by Mr Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia:
"We took note of the tweet made on 9 March 2023 by Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia.
"However, his statements regarding the situation related to the blocking of the Lachin Corridor, made earlier on 8 March in an interview with Azerbaijani media, raise serious questions regarding their compliance with the status of a neutral mediator, to which the EU Special Representative claims.
"Speaking about the alleged legitimacy of Azerbaijan's approaches to the Lachin Corridor, the EU Special Representative clearly ignores the general context of the events taking place. And the context is that Azerbaijan has been illegally blocking the Lachin Corridor for almost three months, in violation of not only their obligations under the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020, but also fundamental rights of the people of Artsakh. Under the pretext of the need for control over the Lachin Corridor, on 5 March, the Azerbaijani armed forces resorted to a terrorist attack, killing three Artsakh police officers and seriously wounding another.
"It should be emphasized that all of Azerbaijan's arguments regarding the blocking of the Lachin Corridor, including the claim that the corridor was allegedly used for military purposes, after a thorough consideration have been rejected by the UN International Court of Justice, which ordered Azerbaijan to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. We recall that the decisions of the International Court of Justice are legally binding, which was also confirmed by senior representatives of the EU.
"Such statements supporting the illegal claims of Azerbaijan are perceived by the authorities of this country as an indulgence of their criminal policy of ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, which is based on the denial of the Artsakh people's inalienable rights to life, self-determination, freedom and peaceful development. Azerbaijan is seeking to create conditions where nothing would prevent Baku from establishing control over the entire territory of Artsakh by force and completing their criminal plans to ethnically cleanse Artsakh.
"If the EU Special Representative is indeed concerned about actions that escalate tensions in the region, then we strongly recommend paying attention to Azerbaijan's continued military provocations, aggressive and belligerent rhetoric, as well as deployment of new military bases and other military infrastructure in the occupied territories of Artsakh." In his earlier interview with an Azerbaijani media outlet, Mr Klaar made the following statement:
"I think the idea that there should be transparency about what is being transported on the Lachin road is absolutely legitimate. Because we do not want the Lachin road to be used for any shipment of goods that would exacerbate tensions or be used for any military or sort of illicit purposes
"Transparency is absolutely legitimate. The manner in which this transparency is achieved is, I think, something that is subject to discussions and negotiations. I think there are several ways of doing that. And I believe some of these have been discussed in the past like, for instance, Russians having some additional equipment on the checkpoint to be able to better inspect what is going in and what is going out. Again, I think there are several ways of doing it, I think it is important that this is discussed in detail. I think the view in Armenia is true that these [i.e., Lachin and Zangezur] are two separate issues. One is the Lachin road, which is covered in one point of the November 2020 Statement, and then there is the connection between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan which is covered in another point of the 2020 Statement. So, from that point of view, these are treated in different areas of that statement. But, in the end, it is a question of discussion, of negotiation. Our view of course is that, indeed, it is legitimate to have transparency, I think it is also important to have, for the people, for the Armenian inhabitants of Karabakh, a sense of security for them to be able to move back and forth."