Germany has assumed the chairmanship of the OSCE. The Head of the OSCE Office in Armenia, Ambassador Andrei Sorokin and German Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Matthias Kisler met with reporters today to present the priorities of the German presidency.

Ambassador Kisler said the resolution of conflicts will be a priority for the German presidency. Referring to the Karabakh conflict, he said “Germany is convinced the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only forum for organizing the dialogue between the conflicting parties.”

The German Ambassador expressed his concern over the situation at the line of contact, especially the use of heavy weapons, which results in casualties.

“Germany closely cooperates and fully supports the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ initiative to create a mechanism of investigation of border incidents,” he said. “Germany is aware of the importance of the mechanism for both parties and wants the sides to agree to its implementation,” Amb. Kisler stressed.

Andrei Sorokin, in turn, reminded that the issue was discussed during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Germany. The Ambassador refuted the rumors about Germany’s intention to replace France as a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Without going into details about the two anti-Armenian reports debated by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe yesterday, Matthias Kisler said “the Minsk Group is the only forum for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, other movements and forums are unacceptable.”

The Head of the OSCE Office in Armenia said “the two reports were obviously very unpleasant and anti-Armenian.” According to him, the fact that the more important of the two was rejected can be seen as a victory.

“I think PACE is following some policy line, which ignored all principles, including the basic principles of the OSCE,” he said.