17:10, 26 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. The South Caucasus region is in dire need of trust between publics at the moment, ARMENPRESS reports the Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg during a press conference at the EU Delegation in Georgia.

He referred to the meetings with caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan and the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Baku and the intensive discussions during the meetings.

"Our goal was to understand the means by which trust can be built. This visit reaffirmed what we already knew: trust is the most important resource the region needs and lacks. Our goal is to sow the seeds of that trust. We know that the wounds caused by the Nagorno-Karabakh war are still open, but we need a healing process. This visit showed that the parties realize that there is a real need for this process, they need partners to start this process. The European Union is ready to assist in any way possible way," Schallenberg said.

He noted that they highly appreciate Georgia's role in this issue with the mediation of which the release of Armenian POWs by Azerbaijan and the handing over of maps of mined areas by Armenia became possible.

"I think this trilateral cooperation is beneficial for all parties," said the Austrian Foreign Minister, noting that the EU fully supports such processes.