The provisions on Nagorno Karabakh in the European Parliament's draft resolution on the Good Neighborhood Policy are contradictory and cause bewilderment, Eduard Sharmazanov, Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, told ArmInfo.
"What astonishes most is that the authors of the document refer to the joint statement by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group in L'Aquila that calls for non-use of force among other principles," he said, "Meanwhile, Azerbaijan keeps breaching ceasefire and making bloody provocations on the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh."
"It is more than strange that the document refers to the UN resolutions on Nagorno Karabakh dated 1993. Firstly, those resolutions sought to establish peace in the conflict zone, but not to give final solution to the conflict. In addition, the only internationally recognized structure engaged in settlement of the Karabakh conflict is the OSCE MG. Consequently, the documents proposed by the MG mediators must be taken into account in the settlement process.
This is the official position of the EU and other international structures. Hence, the given Resolution of the European Parliament contradicts the official stance of the EU," Sharmazanov said. He is sure that document will have no serious impact on the Karabakh peace process.
The vice speaker outlined that the author of the given part of the Resolution is Pino Arlacchi, Italian MP (Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament) who "heaped praises" to the presidential election in Azerbaijan amid harsh criticism by nearly all international structures, including the EU and the European Parliament.
"Probably, the Azerbaijani oil and caviar have left a lasting impression on the Italian parliamentarian," Sharmazanov said.
At the same time, Sharmazanov believes that the Resolution's provisions on Armenia are quite impartial.
"European parliamentarians registered the country's process in democratic reform and anti-corruption activities," the vice speaker said.
He highlighted the fact that in the document the European parliamentarians come out for further dialogue with Armenia, which fully meets the position of official Yerevan.
At the plenary session of the European Parliament on 23 October, a draft resolution on the European Neighborhood was adopted. Azerbaijani media outlets report that in the paragraph #16, the resolution "denounces the occupation by one country of the Eastern Partnership of the territory of another and states that the settlement of Armenian Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh Conflict should comply with UN Security Council Resolutions."
The document "recalls its position that the occupation by one country of the Eastern Partnership of the territory of another violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the Eastern Partnership and that the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should comply with UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of 1993 and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group Basic Principles, enshrined in the L'Aquila joint statement of 10 July 2009".