PETER SEMNEBY: IT’S HIGH TIME TO NORMALIZE THE RELATIONS BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN KARABAKH AND KARABAKH

ArmRadio.am
21.02.2007 12:35

EU Special Envoy for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby declared at
a press conference in Baku that "the time has come to normalize the
relations between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, and at this point
the European Union is trying to create trust between the parties."

Turning to the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs that
discussion of the issue in the framework of other organizations hamper
the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, Semneby noted that he does
not think the activity of the EU is directed against the work of the
OSCE Minsk Group. "The European Union backs the activity of the OSCE
Minsk Group," he said.

The EU Special Envoy also mentioned that these have been moments
in the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict settlement which were
inspiring optimism, but were yielding no results." Among these Semneby
pointed out the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Minsk and the recent talks between the Foreign Ministers of the two
countries." No progress was achieved as a result of these negotiations,
but I hope the question will find its solution and the EU will have
its contribution," said the EU Special Envoy, adding that "after the
settlement of the issue, the European Union has much do in the region,"