Thursday, October 5 2023 20:50

ArmInfo. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of France, Emmanuel  Macron, and the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz met in Granada with Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia.  This was reported by the Council of the EU.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President  of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf  Scholz underlined their unwavering support to the independence,  sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders  of Armenia.

They also expressed their support to the strengthening of EU-Armenia  relations, in all its dimensions, based on the needs of the Republic  of Armenia.

They agreed on the need to provide additional humanitarian assistance  to Armenia as it faces the consequences of the recent mass  displacement of Karabakh Armenians. They stressed that these refugees  must be free to exercise their right to return to their homes and  their places of living, without any conditions, with international  monitoring, and with due respect for their history, culture and for  human rights.

They remain committed to all efforts directed towards the  normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, based on  mutual recognition of sovereignty, inviolability of borders and  territorial integrity of Armenia (29.800 km2) and Azerbaijan (86.600  km2), as mentioned in President Michel's statements of 14 May and 15  July 2023. They called for the strict adherence to the principle of  non-use of force and threat of use of force. They stressed the urgent  need to work towards border delimitation based on the most recent  USSR General Staff maps that have been provided to the sides, which  should also be a basis for distancing of forces, and for finalizing  the peace treaty and addressing all humanitarian issues.

They called for greater regional cooperation and for the re-opening  of all borders, including the border between Armenia and Trkiye, as  well as for the opening of regional connectivity links based on full  respect of countries' sovereignty and jurisdiction, as well as on the  principles of equality and reciprocity.  The European leaders called  on Armenia and Azerbaijan to release all detainees, and to cooperate  to address the fate of missing persons and to facilitate demining  work.