In a letter to the parliament, caretaker Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Sigrid Kaag, referring to the discussions on the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) issue in the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, said that the Netherlands stresses the need for the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) being held in Azerbaijan, as well as the urgent sending of a UNESCO mission to the region to assess the cultural heritage.

The Netherlands emphasizes the need for the immediate withdrawal of troops from the border between the two countries and the return to the negotiating table, the Embassy of Armenia in the Netherlands reported on Wednesday.

“On 28 May, at the initiative of the Netherlands, the EU issued a new joint statement expressing deep concern over border developments and stressing the need to ease tensions. It calls for the immediate withdrawal of troops from the border and highlights the need for resolving the issue of demarcation exclusively through negotiations.

"The statement also includes a call for the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan," Kaag said.