RFE/RL Armenian Service – 09/01/2023

                                        Friday, September 1, 2023


EU Calls For Compromise On Karabakh Blockade


Moldova - European Council President Charles Michel visits Chisinau, March 28, 
2023.


The European Union’s top official on Friday called for “courageous compromise 
solutions” to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh that would 
include a new supply route controlled by Azerbaijan.

“European Council President Charles Michel has proposed a step-by-step approach 
which would reflect a sequencing in the full-fledged operation of the Lachin 
corridor and the opening of the Aghdam route,” read a statement released by his 
spokeswoman, Ecaterina Casinge.

“The EU strongly believes the Lachin corridor must be unblocked, in line with 
past agreements and the [International Court of Justice] Order, and notes that 
the use of the Aghdam road to provide supplies can also be part of a concrete 
and sustainable solution to the provision of urgent and daily basic needs,” it 
said.

Despite struggling with worsening shortages of food and medicine, most residents 
of Karabakh appear to remain strongly opposed to the alternative supply line 
which Baku has set as a precondition for allowing renewed relief supplies 
through Karabakh’s land link with Armenia.

Scores of Karabakh Armenians have been blocking a road leading to the 
Azerbaijani town of Aghdam to prevent two Azerbaijani trucks loaded with 40 tons 
of flour from entering Karabakh. They as well as the authorities in Stepanakert 
believe that the proposed aid is a publicity stunt aimed at legitimizing the 
nearly nine-month blockade of the Lachin corridor and helping Azerbaijan regain 
full control over Karabakh.

Casinge said Michel and other EU officials have been “in frequent contact” with 
Baku, Yerevan and Karabakh representatives in recent weeks to advance the 
arrangement proposed by the EU chief.

“It is now time for courageous compromise solutions, also in light of today's 
escalation,” added Michel’s spokeswoman.

Reacting to Casinge’s statement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said 
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
reached an agreement on the simultaneous reopening of the Lachin and Aghdam 
roads during their July 15 meeting in Brussels hosted by Michel. It claimed that 
the Armenian side did not honor the deal.

Baku already made such claims shortly after the Brussels summit. They were 
denied by Pashinian.

The dire humanitarian situation in Karabakh was on the agenda of a meeting of 
the foreign ministers of EU member states held in Spain on Thursday. Speaking 
after the meeting, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell renewed the 27-nation 
bloc’s calls for Azerbaijan to restore “safe and unhindered traffic” through the 
Lachin corridor.

The U.S. State Department also reiterated that Baku should “immediately reopen 
the Lachin corridor to humanitarian, commercial, and passenger traffic.” The 
department spokesman, Matthew Miller, at the same time backed “additional supply 
routes” for Karabakh.




International Court Treaty Sent To Armenian Parliament For Ratification


Netherlands -- The new building of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The 
Hague, on November 23, 2015.


Ignoring stern warnings from Russia, the Armenian government has formally asked 
the country’s parliament to ratify the founding treaty of the International 
Criminal Court (ICC).

The Armenian Constitutional Court gave the green light for parliamentary 
ratification of the treaty, also known as the Rome Statute, in March one week 
after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over 
war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine. Moscow said shortly 
afterwards that Yerevan’s recognition of The Hague tribunal’s jurisdiction would 
have “extremely negative” consequences for Russian-Armenian relations.

Yury Vorobyov, a deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, brought 
up the issue during a meeting of Armenian and Russian lawmakers held in the 
Siberian city of Irkutsk in July. He warned of “significant damage” to bilateral 
ties.

Vorobyov’s Armenian counterpart, Hakob Arshakian, insisted during the meeting 
that Yerevan’s plans to submit to the ICC’s jurisdiction are “in no way directed 
against Russia” and are aimed instead at “preventing Azerbaijani attacks on the 
sovereign territory of Armenia.” Moscow was clearly unconvinced by similar 
assurances made by other Armenian officials earlier this year.

The government’s press office told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday that the 
Rome Statute has been submitted to the National Assembly for ratification. A 
spokesperson for parliament speaker Alen Simonian confirmed the information.

The parliament committee on legal affairs has to discuss the treaty within a 
month. The document will then be debated by the full assembly controlled by 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.

Armenia - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir 
Putin attend a CSTO summit in Yerevan, November 23, 2022.

Independent legal experts believe that recognition of the ICC’s jurisdiction 
would require the Armenian authorities to arrest Putin and extradite him to The 
Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus country. Armenian opposition 
lawmakers have expressed serious concern over such a possibility, saying that it 
would ruin Armenia’s relationship with its key ally.

Russian-Armenian relations had already soured in the months leading up to the 
Constitutional Court’s March ruling due to what Pashinian’s administration sees 
as a lack of Russian support for Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan.

Arshakian said in Irkutsk that Armenian and Russian diplomats are holding 
“active discussions” on the matter. He expressed confidence that a “legal 
solution acceptable to Armenia and Russia” will be found.

It was not immediately clear whether Pashinian’s government wants lawmakers to 
ratify the Rome Statute unconditionally or with reservations relating to Russia. 
The full text of the relevant decision sent to the parliament was due to be 
publicized later in the day.




Three Armenian Soldiers Killed In Fresh Border Clashes (UPDATED)


Azerbaijani (L) and Armenian army posts near the Sotk gold mine in Armenia's 
Gegharkunik province, June 18, 2021


Three Armenian soldiers were killed and two others wounded on Friday in what the 
Defense Ministry in Yerevan called fresh Azerbaijani truce violations on the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The ministry reported the first two casualties in the morning when it said its 
troops deployed near the border village of Sotk in Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik 
province came under “intensive” cross-border fire. The Azerbaijani side is also 
using mortars to strike the Armenian army positions there, it said, adding that 
“the intensity of the gunfire” eased by 11:20 a.m. local time.

The ministry reported renewed Azerbaijani mortar and automatic fire early in the 
afternoon. Azerbaijani troops are also targeting Armenian positions near 
Norabak, another Gegharkunik close to Sotk, it said.

“Armenian army units are taking necessary defensive measures,” read a fresh 
ministry statement.

The Azerbaijani military said, meanwhile, that it is taking “retaliatory 
actions” after three of its soldiers were wounded by Armenian forces. The 
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Yerevan of heightening 
tensions along the border to mislead the international community.

Baku repeatedly accused the Armenian side of violating the ceasefire in the same 
area on Thursday. The Armenian Defense Ministry dismissed the “disinformation,” 
saying that it is aimed at justifying “yet another provocation.”

The Sotk area has been one of the most volatile sections of the long 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Deadly 
fighting raged there for several consecutive days in early May.

Armenia’s largest gold mine located near Sotk halted production operations in 
April due to systematic cross-border gunfire targeting its workers and 
production facilities. The village was shelled by the Azerbaijani army and 
sustained heavy damage during more large-scale clashes that broke out at this 
and other border sections in September 2022.


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