Thursday, January 19 2023 17:09

ArmInfo. The European Parliament has just adopted urgency resolution on "Humanitarian consequences of the blockade in Nagorno- Karabakh." ". The Armenian  Embassy in Belgium reports.

As ArmInfo previously reported, the resolution of the European  Parliament on the humanitarian consequences of the blockade of  Nagorno-Karabakh notes: "The only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh  with Armenia and the outside world, the Lachin corridor, has been  blocked by self-proclaimed environmentalists from Azerbaijan since 12  December 2022; whereas this has disrupted access to essential goods  and services, including food, fuel and medication, for the 120 000  Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, effectively placing them under  a blockade; "Moreover, the blockade has led to a severe humanitarian  crisis, significantly affecting the most vulnerable populations;  whereas the transfer of critically ill patients is nearly impossible,  with one death resulting from this situation; whereas hundreds of  families remain separated.

This humanitarian crisis was further aggravated by Azerbaijan's  disruption of the natural gas supply to Nagorno- Karabakh, which left  houses, hospitals and schools without heating. By sustaining the  blockade of the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan is breaching its  international obligations under the trilateral ceasefire statement of  9 November 2020, under which Azerbaijan must guarantee the security  of persons, vehicles and cargo moving along the corridor in both  directions. The impediments to the use of the Lachin corridor set  back the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and undermine  international confidencet," the resolution notes.  In this regard,  the European Parliament "Deplores the tragic humanitarian  consequences of the blockade of the Lachin corridor and the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict".  At the same time, the European  Parliament: "Urges Azerbaijan to respect and implement the trilateral  statement of 9 November 2020 and immediately reopen the Lachin  corridor to enable free movement and ensure access to essential goods  and services, thus guaranteeing security in the region and  safeguarding residents' livelihoods; 3. Underlines the need for a  comprehensive peace agreement, which must guarantee the rights and  security of Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian population; calls on  Azerbaijan to protect the rights of Armenians living in Nagorno-  Karabakh and refrain from its inflammatory rhetoric that calls for  discrimination against Armenians and urgesArmenians to leave  Nagorno-Karabakh; 4. Urges Azerbaijan to refrain from undermining the  functioning of transport, energy and communication connections  between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in future; Strongly condemns  Azerbaijan's scapegoating of human rights defenders and CSOs and  calls on EU and Member State representations to support their work;  6. Condemns the inaction of Russian 'peacekeepers'; considers that  their replacement with OSCE international peacekeepers, under a UN  mandate, should be negotiated urgently; 7. Calls for international  organisations to be granted unimpeded access to NagornoKarabakh to  assess the situation and provide the necessary humanitarian  assistance; 8. Calls for a UN or OSCE fact-finding mission to the  Lachin corridor to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground;  9. Calls for the urgent resumption, without preconditions, of  negotiations based on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act; 10.  Calls for the EU to be actively involved and ensure that the  inhabitants of NagornoKarabakh are no longer held hostage by Baku's  activism, Russia's destructive role and the Minsk Group's inactivity;  11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to Armenia,  Azerbaijan and international institutions.  Last December, the  official website of the European Parliament published a draft  resolution on the annual report on the implementation of the European  Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)," the resolution  reads.