/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

EU official has ruled the status quo in the Armenian-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as unacceptable.

Herbert Salber, the European Union special representative for the South Caucasus has said the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not acceptable.

He made the remarks at a meeting with Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijan’s deputy prime minister and chairman of the State Committee on Refugees and IDPs in Baku on April 30, AzerTac news agency reported.

Salber noted that the dispute could not be considered frozen. He said the conflict can flare up at any time, adding it should be solved as soon as possible.

He also stressed on the importance of ensuring the release of Azerbaijani hostages Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev from Armenian captivity.

Armenian special forces killed Azerbaijani citizen, Hasan Hasanov and took hostage Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov in the Shaplar village in the occupied Kalbajar region last July, while they were visiting the graves of their relatives. Following a so-called “judicial process" Dilgam Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Shahbaz Guliyev to 22 years in prison.

Salber, who visited IDPs living in student dormitories, hailed the conditions created for refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan.

Hasanov applauded relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, saying the country was “open to the whole world”.

He said Azerbaijan is committed to all international conventions, which it is party to and obligations. Hasanov said the country “is playing an important role in ensuring the energy security of Europe”.

Hasanov also expressed regret over “the existence of double standards” in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“Unfortunately, the OSCE and other international organizations do not press on the aggressor country. The international organizations should increase their activity in this regard,” he added.

Hasanov also voiced regret that “the presidents of Russia and France attended the events marking the 100th anniversary of the so-called Armenian genocide in Yerevan, adding “this casts doubt on the fairness of their position as they are co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the dispute”.

He also criticized the international community's “inactivity” towards releasing Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a conflict which emerged over Armenia's illegitimate territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. A lengthy war in the early 1990s caused the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territories, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions by Armenia armed forces.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far. Armenia has not implemented any of the four U.N. Security Council's resolutions calling for its troops to withdraw from all occupied territories.