European Commissioner: EU ready to extend support to OSCE MG on resolving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

At present, the European Union does not play a formal role in negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In the long term, however, the EU is ready to step up to its engagement in support of the Minsk Group, for example through funding confidence building measures, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Štefan Füle believes.

"EU contribution is at this stage limited to providing financial support to civil society organizations creating confidence building efforts at the level of local communities. The EU continues to support the work of the OSCE Minsk Group as the international mediator in this conflict and keep a close contact with the co-chairs," Füle said in an interview with Mediamax.

He said the EU also provides considerable assistance to support democratization and strengthening of the supremacy of law in Azerbaijan and Armenia. Füle expressed his hope that an agreement on association will considerably draw Azerbaijan and Armenia together with the European Union, as well as provide a favorable influence on more openness and democracy of both countries’ communities.

Füle said that consequently, the sides can be better prepared to accept a peaceful outcome of the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"The EU cannot stand idle in relation to all the frozen conflicts in our neighborhood which have a direct impact on our security. Entry into the strength implicit in the Lisbon Treaty has given us new instruments and opportunities that we can use more effectively," he added.


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