16:38,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. The Members of the European Parliament, who arrived in Armenia on a fact-finding mission, are planning to show in the European Parliament that it is necessary to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan to avoid the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh, Member of the European Parliament and Co-chair of the Friendship Group with Artsakh at the EP Francois Alfonsi said at a news conference in Yerevan.
The MEPs are visiting Armenia February 21-24 as a result of the work by European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD).
When asked what pressure the MEPs are able to use to open the Lachin corridor, MEP Alfonsi said: “The only pressure we can use at the EP is diplomatic pressure. Europe, for example, has the opportunity to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan. And we want to put the EU on that track.”
He said they want to centralize diplomacies of all EU members around the diplomacy which is most engaged in this issue.
“We see that every week the demands for opening the Lachin corridor are increasing. And we can see that the Azerbaijani narratives are being discredited. We must show that in order to avoid this humanitarian crisis it is necessary to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan. Perhaps we will demand this,” he added.
MEP Alfonsi said he believes that Aliyev will lose his reputation as a result of international pressure and countries who deal with Azerbaijan economically will realize that they are cooperating with a criminal regime.
“All of us will do everything for the international community to focus on this issue. Certainly, this is very difficult,” the MEP said.
The situation in Nagorno Karabakh can stabilize only when it will be possible to mobilize the attention of the entire international community, he added.
President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) Kaspar Karampetian said that their main goal at this moment is to achieve the unblocking of the Lachin corridor and bring the people of Artsakh out of isolation. He noted the important role of the EP Friendship Group with Artsakh members.
“Yesterday we were in Goris the whole day, we had broad meetings. They got acquainted with the situation on the ground, they saw where the Azerbaijanis are located after the September 12 encroachment. And they will present it in the European Parliament,” Karampetian said.