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. Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.