Now Not the Time to Change Karabakh Negotiating Format: Sabine Freizer

Now is not the time to change the OSCE Minsk Group format, as the co-chairs believe they are very close to an agreement on the basic principles of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, International Crisis Group Europe Program Director Sabine Freizer told Trend News agency.

If an agreement on the basic principles is not reached in the coming months, the international community will have to seriously think about effectiveness of the negotiating format and the chosen strategy, she believes. In this context the EU will have a chance to prove itself.
On Wednesday the EU published a report — the revised European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) — which is pending approval by the European Parliament and other EU authorities.

The report says that the European Union is ready to enhance EU involvement in solving protracted conflicts. The EU must be ready to step up its involvement in formats where it is not yet represented, such as the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the report reads.

This may imply the EU involvement in the Minsk Group as a co-chair, perhaps replacing the French co-chair, said Freizer.

“There has been a discussion within the European Union about weather or not it would useful to have an EU representative instead of French co-chair,” Freizer said. “But, of course, this would require the consent of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the other two co-chairs,” she added.

It seems highly unlikely at this stage there would be any change of the actual co-chair arrangement, Freizer emphasized, adding that any possible changes to the format of negotiations won’t occur at least before the end of June, when the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are expected to meet in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.

Photo: RFE/RL’s Armenian service