Armenian PM’s press secretary welcomes announcement of Johannes Hahn 

19:17, 6 March, 2019

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. Vladimir Karapetyan, the press secretary of the Armenian PM, has commented on the announcement of European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and the manipulations over that announcement.

“We welcome the announcement of European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, according to which the negotiations over Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement should go on under the format of the existing OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs’ format.

Prime Minister Pashinyan has noted numerous times that for having effective negotiations it’s important to ensure the involvement of the representatives of Nagorno Karabakh in the talks.

It’s not something new for us that Azerbaijan regularly makes assessments distorting the facts. We call on some analysts not to submit to manipulations”, ARMENPRESS reports Karapetyan wrote on his Facebook page.

In a joint press conference in Brussels a journalist, addressing Nikol Pashinyan and Johannes Hahn, gave the following question, “Mr. Prime Minister, in the recent period you have met with your Azerbaijani colleagues a number of times. We would like to know if there are any new emphasis that could be publicized. If possible, we would like to hear the comments of Mr. Hahn on how the EU can add assistance for accelerating the peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict”.

PM Nikol Pashinyan emphasize din his answer that the position of Armenia has not changed and for a comprehensive settlement of NK conflict it’s necessary first of all to create an effective format, the aim of which is ensuring the participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiations.

Johannes Hahn said in his turn, “As refers to the assistance, I think we should preserve the existing format where discussions and negotiations take place. We should not create something new. We have to assist, but only at the request and demand of the sides, because the sides know what to do, how to work with each other and we should just be ready to support, if the sides request it”.

It’s apparent that Johannes Hahn was talking about the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs’ format of negotiations and the possibility of the EU involvement in that. Unfortunately, some domestic analysts have submitted to Azerbaijani manipulative comments and made comments distorting the facts.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan