BRITISH EXPERT: MADRID PRINCIPLES ARE MEANT TO BE A FRAMEWORK THAT CREATES CONDITIONS FOR A PROPER PEACE AGREEMENT TO BE NEGOTIATED

ArmInfo
2009-08-06 13:40:00

ArmInfo. "This is a critical moment (ed. in the process of Karabakh
peace negotiations). There will be those who will try to sabotage
the process, even before it has even started properly. The two
governments need to be resolute in pushing forward with the peace
process and they must reach out to the rest of the society and seek
their support also," Dennis Sammut, Executive Director of LINKS,
says in an interview with ArmInfo.

"The biggest danger is that somehow the momentum is lost and the
process goes back to where it started," he says.

"We should not expect dramatic breakthroughs from all the
meetings. It is clear that some serious work is being done and
difficult negotiations are taking place. So one can only welcome
these meetings and wish them success.

However both presidents know that this cannot go on forever and they
will soon have to show some results for their hard work," Denniss
Sammut says.

"The Madrid principles are meant to be a framework that creates
conditions for a proper peace agreement to be negotiated. They are not
an end in themselves. They have been worked out by the co-Chair of the
Minsk process on the basis of many meetings with all the interested
sides to the conflict.

If there is enough political will on all side the Madrid Principles
can be agreed soon. It will be the end of the beginning," the British
expert says.